Apodictic - plus, see what lookups are trending now

[Merriam-Webster]( WORD OF THE DAY [November 1, 2017](#none) apodictic [Audio pronunciation]( adjective | ap-uh-DIK-tik Definition : expressing or of the nature of necessary truth or absolute certainty Scroll down for more about apodictic WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE [Here Be Dragons: A Creature Identification Quiz]( Director's Cut! [PLAY NOW]( Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try! [TAKE ME THERE [>]]( Plus: [SEE WHAT LOOKUPS ARE TRENDING NOW! [>]]( Did You Know? Apodictic is a word for those who are confident about that of which they speak. It's a handy word that can describe a conclusive concept, a conclusive person, or even that conclusive person's conclusive remarks. A well-known close relative of apodictic is [paradigm]( ("an outstandingly clear or typical example"); both words are built on Greek deiknynai, meaning "to show." More distant relatives (from Latin dicere, a relative of deiknynai that means "to say") include [diction](, [dictate](, [edict](, and [predict](. Examples of APODICTIC "On the humbler level of recorded evidence, what is one to make of a thinker-scholar who ruled with apodictic, [magisterial]( certainty that 'Shakespeare's tragedies are second-class with the exception of Lear'?" — George Steiner, The Times Literary Supplement, 4 June 1993 "Her writing, collected in a volume titled Sweet Nothings (a title intended, one suspects, to ward off serious criticism), has an apodictic, take-it-or-leave-it quality: 'Art is a low-risk, high-reward crime.'" — Theodore Dalrymple, City Journal, Winter 2016 Word Family Quiz Unscramble the letters to create an adjective derived from Latin dicere that means "truthful" or "genuine": ICDLAIVRE. [VIEW THE ANSWER [>]]( MERCH NEW Merriam-Webster Swag! Show off your smarts with M-W gear [CHECK OUT OUR SELECTION [>]]( MORE WORD FUN: [WORD GAMES [>]]( [TRENDING NOW [>]]( [WORDS AT PLAY [>]]( FOLLOW US: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( [Pinterest]( SHARE: [Facebook][Facebook]( [Twitter][Twitter]( [View this email in a web browser]( You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day. [Unsubscribe from Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day]( [Manage your subscription settings]( Merriam-Webster, Inc. 47 Federal Street P.O. Box 281 Springfield, MA 01102 [www.merriam-webster.com](