gadabout
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster
4.3 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 14 August 2024
⏱️ 2 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 14, 2024 is:
gadabout • \GAD-uh-bout\ • noun
A gadabout is a person who flits about in social activity, as by going to many places and social events for pleasure.
// She was a gadabout who was rarely home, and her tiny apartment was cluttered with playbills and other souvenirs of her adventures.
Examples:
"The wild career of David Johansen—New York Dolls frontman, punk gadabout, occasional actor, and Buster Poindexter portrayer—will be the focus of an upcoming documentary co-directed by Martin Scorsese." — Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 16 Mar. 2023
Did you know?
If you had to pick an insect most closely related to a gadabout, you might wryly guess the "social butterfly." But there's another bug that's commonly heard buzzing around discussions of the gadabout: the gadfly. Gadfly is a term used for any of a number of winged pests (such as horseflies) that bite or annoy livestock. But, although a gadabout's gossip can bite, gadfly doesn't have any clear etymological relation to gadabout. This word, which comes from the English phrase "gad about," traces back to the Middle English verb gadden, meaning "to be on the go without a specific aim or purpose." That word's source hasn't left a trail.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for August 14th. |
| 0:11.0 | Today's word is G-A-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-A-B-O-U-T. |
| 0:17.0 | G-A-B-O-T. Gat-about is a noun. |
| 0:19.0 | A-about is a person who flits about in social activity, |
| 0:22.0 | as by going to many places and social |
| 0:24.9 | events for pleasure. Here's the word used in a sentence from Rolling Stone by |
| 0:28.9 | Daniel Cripps. The Wild Career of David Johanson, New York Dolls Frontman, Punk Gadabout, Occasional Actor, and Buster Poindexter Portrayer |
| 0:39.0 | will be the focus of an upcoming documentary co-directed by Martin Scorsese. |
| 0:43.4 | If you had to pick an insect most closely related to a gadabout, |
| 0:48.6 | you might Riley guess the social butterfly, |
| 0:51.9 | but there's another bug that's commonly heard buzzing |
| 0:54.5 | around discussions of the gadabout, the gadfly. Gadfly is a term used for |
| 1:00.0 | any of a number of winged pests such as horse flies that bite or annoy livestock. |
| 1:06.4 | But although a Gadabout's gossip can bite, Gadfly doesn't have any clear etymology |
| 1:11.8 | relation to the word Gadabout. This word which comes from the English |
| 1:16.8 | phrase Gad about traces back to the middle English verb Gadin, meaning to be on the go without a specific aim or purpose. |
| 1:26.0 | That words source hasn't left a trail. |
| 1:29.1 | With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. Visit Marion Webster.com today for definitions, word play and trending word lookups. |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in -229 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Merriam-Webster, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Merriam-Webster and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.