Today's Word

Glut

GLUHT

Definition

(noun/verb) An excessively abundant supply of something; or to supply or fill to excess.

Example

The market glut of avocados caused prices to plummet, leaving farmers with unsold crops.

Word Origin

Middle English: from Old French “gloutir” meaning “to swallow,” derived from Latin “gluttire” meaning “to gulp down.”

Fun Fact

A glut isn’t always about food—though the word’s swallowing origins suggest it. Economic gluts happen when supply dramatically exceeds demand, flooding markets and crashing prices. The 1980s oil glut saw prices collapse from oversupply. Tech companies experience gluts too—remember when warehouses overflowed with unsold fidget spinners? While abundance sounds positive, a glut reveals the delicate balance between plenty and excess. Too much of anything, even something valuable, can become worthless when there’s simply too much to go around.

Previous Words

Supine

Today's Word

Supine

SOO-pyne

Definition

(adjective) Failing to act or resist; passive and yielding, especially when action is urgently needed.

Example

The board’s supine response to the mounting crisis — endless meetings, no decisions, no accountability — allowed a manageable problem to become a catastrophic one.

Word Origin

Supine derives from the Latin supinus, meaning “lying face upward” or “thrown backward,” rooted in the same base as sub- (“under”). It entered English in the 15th century with both its literal meaning — lying flat on one’s back — and its figurative sense of moral or intellectual passivity. The physical image is the etymology: a person flat on their back, facing the sky, unable or unwilling to rise and meet what’s coming.

Fun Fact

The Roman Senate’s increasingly supine relationship with Julius Caesar is considered by historians to be one of the pivotal failures of the Roman Republic. As Caesar accumulated unprecedented power — declaring himself dictator perpetuo, or dictator in perpetuity — senators who had the authority and the votes to resist instead did nothing, each waiting for someone else to act first. By the time a group finally did act on the Ides of March in 44 BCE, it was too late to save the Republic they were trying to protect. The assassination triggered a civil war that ended with Augustus becoming Rome’s first emperor — proving that supine inaction can be just as consequential as any decision ever made.

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Glut

Definition

Example

Word Origin

Previous Words

Supine

Supine

Definition

Example

Word Origin

Supine

Anachronistic

Perfidious

Equivocate

Acumen