- Today's Word
Widdershins
[WID-er-shinz]
Definition
- (ajective) A counterclockwise or contrary direction. It often refers to moving or doing something in an unconventional, unorthodox, or opposite way, against the usual flow or expectations.
Example
In a quirky attempt to break her writer’s block, Samantha decided to take a widdershins walk around the park, hoping that the unusual direction would help spark new ideas and perspectives.
Fun Fact
The word “widdershins” has its roots in Old High German, where “widersinnen” meant “to go against.” In Medieval times, moving widdershins was considered unlucky or even evil, as it was thought to go against the natural order of things. This superstition was particularly strong in Celtic and Germanic cultures, where walking widdershins around a church or sacred site was believed to invoke the devil or dark forces. Today, the term is often used more lightheartedly to describe any action or movement that goes against the norm or expected direction, whether in a literal or metaphorical sense. Some modern Pagans and Wiccans have even reclaimed the term, using widdershins movements in their rituals and spells to symbolize undoing, banishing, or reversing energies.
(adjective) Lacking substance, interest, or mature thought; naive and simplistic in a way that reveals inexperience.
The critic dismissed the debut novel as jejune — competently written, technically adequate, and utterly devoid of anything worth remembering.
Jejune derives from the Latin jejunus, meaning “fasting” or “empty” — literally describing a stomach that has not been fed. The same root gives us jejunum, the section of the small intestine named for its tendency to be found empty after death. It entered English in the 17th century carrying its literal sense of emptiness before acquiring its figurative meaning of something intellectually or creatively hollow — content that has the form of nourishment without any of the substance.