Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ

A.Word.A.Day--facade

facade (fuh-SAHD) noun

1. The face of a building, especially the principal face.

2. An artificial or deceptive front.

[French, from Italian facciata, from faccia, face, from Vulgar Latin *facia, from Latin facies.]

"To cover the ugliness, he built a colorful plywood facade of an irregular shape, outlined with wide bands of orange and green and bearing the admonition: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Repair. The facade has holes through which recyclers will throw their items." Marianna Riley, 5 Art Projects Decorate City, Washington U. Students Show Creativity, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 22 Apr 1996.

"`The name sounds innocuous,' he said, `but lurking behind the facade is a white supremacist group.'" Kate Harries, `Heritage' week halted, The Toronto Star, 14 Oct 1998.

This week's theme: yours to discover.

X-Bonus