- Today's Word
Vicissitude
vih-SIS-ih-tood (or vih-SIS-ih-tyood)
Definition
- (noun) A change or variation, often unexpected and typically one of life’s challenges or difficulties.
- The natural ups and downs or alternations of life.
Example
Despite the vicissitudes of her career, she remained resilient and adapted to every challenge with determination.
Fun Fact
“Vicissitude” originates from the Latin word vicissitudo, which stems from vicis, meaning “change” or “alternation.” The term was first used in English in the 16th century to describe the inevitable fluctuations of fortune and life’s unpredictable nature. Philosophers and writers have long explored the concept of vicissitudes, using it to illustrate the impermanence of human existence and the resilience required to navigate life’s ebb and flow.
(adjective) Deliberately untrustworthy and deceitful; guilty of betraying trust or breaking faith.
The perfidious advisor had been leaking confidential strategy to competitors for years, all while accepting promotions and praise from the company he was quietly destroying.
Perfidious derives from the Latin perfidiosus, meaning “treacherous,” rooted in perfidia — “faithlessness” — built from per- (“through” or “away”) and fides (“faith” or “trust”). The same root fides gives us fidelity, confide, and fiduciary — making perfidious the dark twin of an entire family of words built on trust and loyalty. It entered English in the 16th century and has carried its sense of calculated, deliberate betrayal ever since.