- Today's Word
Circumspect
SUR-kum-spekt
Definition
(adjective) Careful to consider all risks and consequences before acting.
Example
The attorney remained circumspect during the negotiations, declining to rush into any decisions.
Fun Fact
While “circumspect” may sound like a formal word, its roots simply mean “to look around.” In ancient Rome, it was considered a virtue to act with circumspection in matters of state and war. Today, it’s a favorite in business, diplomacy, and even parenting—anywhere caution is considered a strength.
(noun/verb) A gentle, continuous murmuring sound made by water or a person speaking rapidly and excitedly.
The hikers followed the burble of the stream through the dense forest long before they could see it, the sound guiding them toward water and rest.
Burble is an example of onomatopoeia — a word whose sound imitates the thing it describes. It emerged in Middle English as an imitative word for the sound of bubbling or gurgling water, related to the Old French borboiller, meaning “to bubble.” Lewis Carroll famously used it in Jabberwocky — “the Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, came whiffling through the tulgey wood, and burbled as it came” — cementing its place in the English literary imagination as a word that sounds exactly like what it means.