Exposing My Dictionary Search History

I'm sure most writers out there know the Dictionary app. It's a helpful tool with plenty of resources, including a Thesaurus. Recently, I've seen a lot of Dictionary.com slander(/j), especially when it comes to new writers exploring this avenue of advice.

Sure, it's funny to take note of newbies adding ridiculous synonyms when it comes to mundane things. Do you know what's funnier? Sharing my embarrassing Dictionary.com search history.

I use the website above when I write posts for you guys. In my opinion, blogging is making information more accessible, so finding a concise way of phrasing my words is important to me. It also helps with my spelling, which definitely needs some polishing.

Most of the words on this list have their reasoning for being here. For whatever reason, I needed to know what a word meant. This also leads to hours of traversing the dictionary rabbit hole, resulting in finding new phrases. Here are all the ridiculous things I found myself searching for one reason or another. (The links to these definitions will be at the end of this post.)

• Misfeasance

Misfeasance: the wrongful performance of a normally lawful act; the wrongful and injurious exercise of lawful authority.

I'll give myself some grace here because the website labels this as a college-level word. I looked this one up because it was in a news article, and I didn't know what it meant.

There's no shame in that. It's better to pause, look up a word, and understand its meaning rather than scroll past. Now, I have a phrase when I need to articulate lawful authorities messing up. I can't remember if this term was used in a legal sense, like if the individuals were charged with misfeasance or something. Whatever the case is, the writer made it a point to hold these public servants accountable in their report, which is all I can ask for.

• Sardonic

Sardonic: characterized by bitter or scornful derision; mocking; sneering; cynical;

Do you ever look at a word and think, "oh, I know what that means," and then get whiplash at how wrong you were? Yeah, that happened to me with sardonic.

What did I think it meant? I saw this word on a list of adjectives to use when describing someone speaking. With that context, I looked up this word with confidence that it had something to do with a pretty-sounding voice. Nope! Literally the opposite of what I expected it would be. Kind of like secular, it doesn't sound like it means what it says it means.

• Commissary

Commissary: a store that sells food and supplies to the personnel or workers in a military post, mining camp, lumber camp, or the like.

I do have some context behind this one. You see, my friend was talking about the colleges they had in mind and showed me a picture of a cafeteria. I'm not even going to sugarcoat this or beat around the bush. That cafeteria has the ugliest design I've seen on a college campus. It looked cold and industrial, which upsets me, considering how much colleges charge for room and board. Thus, leading me on my quest to find the perfect adjective for my friend.

Now, did it work? I think this word fits the context pretty well. Of course, I was trying to joke around with my friend, so it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. No disrespect to the commissaries out there. I'm sure most of them look nice, it's just that...you had to be there. You had to see that picture.

• Verbicide

Verbicide: (1)The willful distortion or depreciation of the original meaning of a word. (2)A person who willfully distorts the meaning of a word.

This was Dictionary's word of the day that I accidentally clicked on. Later, I was drawing a blank as I tried to figure out why I looked it up.

In my daily life, I'll mention that one specific word, "gets a workout online," meaning that it's overused in the internet sphere. That idiom wasn't created by me, but it's good to know that I have another word for it.

Well, there you have it. Hopefully, this wasn't too embarrassing. Researching words and how to use them in specific contexts is a discussion I'd love to see in the writing community. I'm forever grateful for bloggers who post lists on exciting adjectives to use. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post. If you want to see more content like this, please like this post, share it with a friend, or subscribe.

1. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/misfeasance
2. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sardonic
3. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/commissary
4. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/verbicide