A.Word.A.Day --gaucherie

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Today's Word

gaucherie

PRONUNCIATION:

(goh-shuh-REE)

MEANING:

noun: A lack of tact or grace; also an instance of this.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French gauche (left, awkward), from gauchir (to turn). Earliest documented use: 1798.

USAGE:

“Also typical of modern Americans is Trump’s bad taste. ... He puts his own individual stamp on gaucherie.”
PJ O’Rourke; Garish Tastes, Awful Hair; The Daily Beast (New York); Jun 16, 2015.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

In the cellars of the night, when the mind starts moving around old trunks of bad times, the pain of this and the shame of that, the memory of a small boldness is a hand to hold. -John Leonard, critic (25 Feb 1939-2008)

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