misbegotten

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster

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🗓️ 7 December 2024

⏱️ 2 minutes

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Summary

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 7, 2024 is:

misbegotten • \miss-bih-GAH-tun\ • adjective

Misbegotten describes things that are badly planned or thought out.

// They were sent on a misbegotten diplomatic mission that was sure to fail.

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Examples:

"After some misbegotten albums and a run of singles that barely scraped the lower reaches of the chart, [Tony] Bennett split with the label in 1971." — Chris Morris, Variety, 21 July 2023

Did you know?

In the beginning, there was begietan, and begietan begot beyeten; then in the days of Middle English beyeten begot begeten. All of the Old English and Middle English ancestors above basically meant the same thing as the modern beget—that is, "to father" or "to produce as an effect or outgrowth." That linguistic line, combined with the prefix mis- (meaning "wrongly" or "badly"), brought forth misbegotten. While the word has carried several meanings over the centuries, including "contemptible" (as in "a misbegotten scoundrel"), today it most often describes things—such as beliefs, projects, or adventures—that are poorly planned or thought out.

Transcript

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0:42.0	Today's word is misbegotten, spelled M-I-S-Begotten. M-E-G-O-T-E-E-N.
0:49.1	Misbegotten is an adjective. It describes things that are badly planned or thought out. Here's the word
0:55.3	used in a sentence from Variety by Chris Morris. After some misbegotten albums and a run of singles
1:02.2	that barely scraped the lower reaches of the chart, Tony Bennett split with the label in 1971.
1:09.6	In the beginning there was begetten and begetten begot, begetten.
1:14.4	Then in the days of Middle English,
1:16.2	Begetten begot, begetten.
1:18.3	All of the Old English and Middle English ancestors
1:21.3	basically meant the same thing as the modern word beget,
1:25.4	that is, to father, or to produce as an effect or outgrowth.
1:29.8	That linguistic line, combined with the prefix, Miss, M-I-S, meaning wrongly or badly, brought forth
1:36.9	misbegotten, while the word has carried several meanings over the centuries, including
1:42.2	contemptible, as in a misbegotten scoundrel,
1:46.0	today it most often describes things such as beliefs, projects, or adventures that are poorly
1:51.0	planned or thought out. With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.
1:58.2	Visit Miriamwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups.
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