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Nov 15, 2016
This week’s theme
There’s a word for it

This week’s words
kakistocracy
coulrophobia
boodler
ambisinistrous
defenestration

coulrophobia
Photo: Bryan Katz

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

coulrophobia

PRONUNCIATION:
(kool-ruh-FOH-bee-uh)

MEANING:
noun: The fear of clowns.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek kolobatheron (stilt) + -phobia (fear). Earliest documented use: 1980s.

USAGE:
“They all share my coulrophobia with Congressional clowns and presidential hopefuls.”
Fred Pfisterer; Which Came First, Clowns or the Politicians?; The News Leader (Staunton, Virginia); Mar 6, 2016.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-1992)

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