- Today's Word
Indignation
in-dig-NAY-shun
Definition
- (Noun) Strong anger or annoyance at something perceived as unfair or unjust.
Example
Her indignation grew when she realized she was being paid less than her colleagues for the same work.
Fun Fact
Indignation isn’t just any kind of anger—it’s a moral response to perceived injustice. Many of history’s greatest movements, from civil rights to labor protests, have been fueled by collective indignation, proving that sometimes, outrage sparks change.
(adjective) Noisy, unruly, and difficult to control; stubbornly resistant to restraint or discipline.
The obstreperous crowd refused to disperse despite three separate announcements, their noise and defiance rising with every attempt to restore order.
Obstreperous derives from the Latin obstreperus, meaning “clamorous” or “noisy,” built from ob- (“against”) and strepere (“to make a noise” or “to rattle”). The root strepere is also the ancestor of strep in streptococcus — both words carrying the sense of something loud and disruptive making itself impossible to ignore. It entered English in the early 17th century, immediately acquiring its dual sense of both physical noisiness and the kind of willful, uncontainable defiance that produces it.