- Today's Word
Bane
bayn
Definition
(noun) A cause of great distress or annoyance.
Example
Traffic has always been the bane of her morning commute.
Fun Fact
Bane originally meant “killer” or “poison” in Old English—think wolf’s bane, a toxic plant. Over time, it came to mean any source of persistent misery. It’s now often used dramatically or humorously—“My inbox is the bane of my existence.” The word’s tone is flexible: it can be dead serious or a bit tongue-in-cheek.