chapfallen

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 26, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>chapfallen</strong> &#149; \CHAP-faw-lun\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><em>Chapfallen</em> (less commonly spelled <em>chopfallen</em>) is a synonym of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/depressed"><em>depressed</em></a> that means "cast down in spirit." It can also mean "having the lower jaw hanging loosely."</p> <p>// Gina was <em>chapfallen</em> when she learned that her best friend's visit would have to be postponed. </p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chapfallen">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"The disappointment and grief of the party's base transformed quickly—from <em>chapfallen</em> into broad smiles." — Jonathan Jobson, <em>The Sunday Herald</em> (Glasgow, Scotland), 19 Feb. 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Finally: an answer to the age-old question "why the long face?" To be chapfallen is, literally, to have one’s jaw in a fallen or lower position, a physical sign of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dejection">dejection</a>. The <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chap">chap</a></em> in <em>chapfallen</em> is a word that dates back to at least the 16th century. It refers to the fleshy covering of the jaw or to the jaw itself and is often used in the plural, as in "the wolf licked its chaps." If that phrase doesn’t seem quite right to you, it’s likely because you are more familiar with <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chops">chops</a></em>, an alteration of <em>chaps</em> that is also used to refer to the jaw or the mouth. Accordingly, a variant spelling of <em>chapfallen</em> is <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chopfallen">chopfallen</a></em>, which may help us to better under