- Today's Word
Rigmarole
[RIG-muh-rohl]
Definition
- (noun) A lengthy, complicated, and often confusing procedure or series of steps. It can also describe a long, rambling story or explanation that is needlessly complex or tedious.
Example
Applying for a passport turned into a frustrating rigmarole of endless forms, multiple visits to government offices, and seemingly pointless bureaucratic requirements.
Fun Fact
The word “rigmarole” evolved from “ragman roll,” a reference to a medieval English legal document that had many long lists attached to it by strings. The complexity of these documents led to the term being used for any convoluted process or explanation.
(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.