A.Word.A.Day --maladdress

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Today's Word

maladdress

PRONUNCIATION:

(mal-uh-DRES)

MEANING:

noun: Rudeness; tactlessness; clumsiness; awkwardness.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French maladresse (clumsiness, tactlessness, awkwardness), a blend of maladroit (clumsy, tactless) + adresse (dexterity, skill). Earliest documented use: 1804.

USAGE:

“Even when under the cosh, [Professor Olabisi Ugbebor] does not display maladdress towards anyone.”
Celebrating a Woman of Many Firsts; This Day (Lagos, Nigeria); Feb 10, 2021.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

There are few uglier traits than this tendency -- witnessed in men no worse than their neighbors -- to grow cruel, merely because they possessed the power of inflicting harm. -Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer (4 Jul 1804-1864)

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