Today's Word

Obviate

OB-vee-ayt

Definition

(verb) To remove or prevent the need for something by anticipating and addressing it.

Example

Installing motion sensors obviated the need for manual lighting controls.

Fun Fact

Obviate is a favorite in engineering, policy, and tech, where the goal is to solve issues before they arise. It differs from similar words like “prevent” or “avoid” by implying action taken early enough to render something unnecessary altogether. It’s problem-solving through preemption.

Previous Words

Fallacy

Today's Word

Fallacy

FAL-uh-see

Definition

(noun) A mistaken belief or flawed line of reasoning that appears convincing but leads to an incorrect conclusion.

Example

The claim that because something is natural it must be safe is a well-known fallacy.

Word Origin

From Latin fallacia, meaning “deceit, trick, artifice,” derived from fallax (“deceitful”), from fallere (“to deceive, to trip up”). The same root gives us “fail,” “false,” “fault,” and “infallible.” A fallacy, at its etymological core, is something that trips you up — a deceptive stumble built into the reasoning itself.

Fun Fact

Aristotle catalogued the first formal list of fallacies in Sophistical Refutations around 350 BCE, identifying 13 types of faulty argument. Today, logicians have catalogued over 100 recognized fallacies — from the ad hominem (attacking the person rather than the argument) to the slippery slope to the Texas sharpshooter (cherry-picking data to support a predetermined conclusion). In an era of social media and rapid-fire debate, being able to name and identify a fallacy on the spot is considered one of the most practically useful intellectual tools a person can develop.

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Obviate

Definition

Example

Previous Words

Fallacy

Fallacy

Definition

Example

Word Origin

Fallacy

Chimerical

Unconscionable

Hermetic

Gossamer