encomium

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 10, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>encomium</strong> &#149; \en-KOH-mee-um\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><em>Encomium</em> refers to an expression of glowing and warmly enthusiastic praise.</p> <p>// Upon achieving <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/EGOT">EGOT</a> status, the actor was deservedly showered with <em>encomiums</em> from across the entertainment world.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encomium">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) is desperately trying to save the life of her brother, King T’Challa (the late Chadwick Boseman) … until her mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), arrives to deliver the dreaded news: ‘Your brother is with the ancestors.’ Thus does ‘Wakanda Forever’ address, head on, the tragic loss of Boseman, who died of colon cancer in 2020. In a fitting tribute, the shuffle of iconic characters that opens every Marvel movie here is composed entirely of images of Boseman, a moving <em>encomium</em> to a gifted and charismatic actor who left the stage much too soon.” — Ann Hornaday, <em>The Washington Post</em>, 8 Nov. 2022</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kudos">Kudos</a> to <em>encomium</em> for being a marvelous, magnificent, must-have word for high praise for over four centuries—at least in formal speech and writing. Indeed, like its synonym <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/panegyric"><em>panegyric</em></a>, <em>encomium</em> (from the Greek word <em>enkōmion</em>, meaning “celebration”) has seen a steady drop in usage since the early 1800s and is rarely encountered outside of literary or <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/highfalutin">highfalutin</a> contexts. It does pop up i