Word - 115

MUCKRAKE \MUCK-rayk\ verb

: to search out and publicly expose real or apparent misconduct of a prominent individual or business

Example sentence:
Arn is an aggressive reporter, never afraid to ask difficult questions, hound evasive sources, or muckrake when things appear suspect.

Did you know?

The noun "muckrake" (literally, a rake for "muck," i.e., manure) rose out of the dung heap and into the realm of literary metaphor in 1684. That's when John Bunyan used it in Pilgrim's Progress to represent man's preoccupation with earthly things. "The Man with the Muckrake," he wrote, "could look no way but downward." In a 1906 speech, Teddy Roosevelt recalled Bunyan's words while railing against journalists he thought focused too much on exposing corruption in business and government. Roosevelt called them "the men with the muck-rakes" and implied that they needed to learn "when to stop raking the muck, and to look upward." Investigative reporters weren't insulted; they adopted the term "muckraker" as a badge of honor. And soon English speakers were using the verb "muckrake" for the practice of exposing misconduct.

Word - 114

WHEREWITHAL \WAIR-with-awl\ noun

: means, resources; specifically : money

Example sentence:

If I had the wherewithal, I'd buy that empty lot next door and put in a garden.

Did you know?

"Wherewithal" has been with us in one form or another since the 16th century. It comes from "where" and "withal" (meaning "with"), and it has been used as a conjunction meaning "with or by means of which" and as a pronoun meaning "that with or by which." These days, however, it is almost always used as a noun referring to the means or resources one has at one's disposal -- especially financial resources, that is, money.

Word - 113

EXOTERIC \ek-suh-TAIR-ik\

*1 : suitable to be imparted to the public

2 : belonging to the outer or less initiate circle

3 : external

Example sentence:

As a specialist writing for a broader audience, Annette faces the challenge of producing an exoteric synthesis of complex information.

Did you know?

"Exoteric" derives from Latin "exotericus," which is itself from Greek "exoterikus," meaning "external," and ultimately from "exo," meaning "outside." "Exo" has a number of offspring in English, including "exotic," "exonerate," "exorbitant," and the combining form "exo-" or "ex-" (as in "exoskeleton" and "exobiology"). The antonym of "exoteric" is "esoteric," meaning "designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone"; it descends from the Greek word for "within," "eso."

Word -112

SCOFFLAW \SKAHFF-law\ noun

: a contemptuous law violator

Example sentence:

The governor's office set up a database listing the names of scofflaws who hadn't paid their traffic fines.

Did you know?

In 1924, a wealthy Massachusetts Prohibitionist named Delcevare King sponsored a contest in which he asked participants to coin an appropriate word to mean "a lawless drinker." King sought a word that would cast violators of Prohibition laws in a light of shame. Two respondents came up independently with the winning word: "scofflaw," formed by combining the verb "scoff" and the noun "law." Henry Dale and Kate Butler, also of Massachusetts, split King's $200 prize. Improbably, despite some early scoffing from language critics, "scofflaw" managed to pick up steam in English and expand to a meaning that went beyond its Prohibition roots, referring to one who violates any law, not just laws related to drinking.

Word- 111

LACUNA \luh-KOO-nuh\ noun

*1 : a blank space or a missing part : gap

2 : a small cavity, pit, or discontinuity in an anatomical structure

Example sentence:
The newly discovered Civil War documents filled many lacunae in the museum's archives.

Did you know?

Exploring the etymology of "lacuna" involves taking a plunge into the pit -- or maybe a leap into the "lacus" (that's the Latin word for "lake"). Latin speakers modified "lacus" into "lacuna," and used it to mean "pit," "cleft," or "pool." English speakers borrowed the term in the 17th century. Another English word that traces its origin to "lacuna" is "lagoon," which came to us by way of Italian and French.