- Today's Word
Venerate
VEN-uh-rayt
Definition
- (verb) To deeply respect, admire, or hold in high regard.
Example
Generations of artists venerate Michelangelo as one of the greatest painters in history.
Fun Fact
Veneration is deeply embedded in many cultures and religions. In Buddhism, followers venerate the Buddha and sacred texts; in Christianity, saints are venerated for their faith and sacrifice. The practice extends beyond religion—national heroes, intellectual figures, and even objects (like the U.S. Constitution) can be venerated for their historical or moral significance..
(adjective) Deliberately untrustworthy and deceitful; guilty of betraying trust or breaking faith.
The perfidious advisor had been leaking confidential strategy to competitors for years, all while accepting promotions and praise from the company he was quietly destroying.
Perfidious derives from the Latin perfidiosus, meaning “treacherous,” rooted in perfidia — “faithlessness” — built from per- (“through” or “away”) and fides (“faith” or “trust”). The same root fides gives us fidelity, confide, and fiduciary — making perfidious the dark twin of an entire family of words built on trust and loyalty. It entered English in the 16th century and has carried its sense of calculated, deliberate betrayal ever since.