- Today's Word
Rectitude
REK-ti-tood
Definition
(noun) Morally correct behavior or thinking; righteousness.
Example
Her rectitude was admired even by her fiercest opponents.
Fun Fact
Rectitude is an old-school word that appears in documents like the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which refers to “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind” and “the rectitude of our intentions.” It comes from Latin rectus, meaning “straight” or “right,” and it’s often used to describe people with uncompromising principles.
(noun) A person who believes that the pursuit of pleasure and sensory enjoyment is the highest good and chief aim of life
A self-proclaimed hedonist, she planned her entire sabbatical around exceptional food, warm weather, and long afternoons with nothing to do.
Hedonist derives from the Greek hedone, meaning “pleasure” or “delight,” from hedys (“sweet”). The philosophical school of Hedonism was formally developed in ancient Greece — most notably by Epicurus, who argued that pleasure, properly understood, was the foundation of a good life. The word entered English in the 19th century as both a philosophical term and a descriptor for those who live purely for sensory gratification.