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Sep 21, 2016
This week’s theme
Words borrowed from German

This week’s words
kitsch
verboten
ubermensch
gauleiter
clerisy

ubermensch
Image: Mitch Hell

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

ubermensch

PRONUNCIATION:
(OO-buhr-mensch)

MEANING:
noun: An ideal man; also used ironically.

ETYMOLOGY:
From German Übermensch (superman), from über (over) + Mensch (man). In Nietzschean philosophy, an Übermensch is an ideal superior being. Earliest documented use: 1902. Also see mensch and luftmensch.

USAGE:
“Trump, the thrice-married ubermensch who jokes about Megyn Kelly’s period, is the more usual reality.”
Ross Douthat; A Playboy for President; The New York Times; Aug 13, 2016.

See more usage examples of ubermensch in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Good books don't give up all their secrets at once. -Stephen King, novelist (b. 21 Sep 1947)

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