balmy

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 20, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>balmy</strong> &#149; \BAH-mee\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><em>Balmy</em> is an adjective that is often used to describe weather that is warm, calm, and pleasant. It can also be used to describe someone or something (such as an idea) that is foolish or irrational.</p> <p>// After a long, eight-hour drive, we were rewarded with a mild, <em>balmy</em> evening at our vacation spot on the shores of Lake Erie.</p> <p>// Despite being a devout Green Bay fan, she finds the idea of attending games in head-to-toe yellow and green body paint to be a bit <em>balmy</em>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/balmy">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“While our warmer winters have caused some of these dinosaur-like birds to remain in southern Michigan all year long, most are just now returning from <em>balmier</em> winter locales like Mexico and Cuba. You’re most likely to find sandhill cranes this time of year in wet meadows, marshy areas and agricultural fields, though if you learn their distinctive, prehistoric-sounding call, you can also hear them as they flock overhead this season.” — Emily Bingham, <em>MLive.com</em> (Grand Rapids, Michigan), 14 Mar. 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Aromatic ointments and fragrances are the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bomb">bomb</a>. They are also, literally, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/balm">balms</a>: healing substances and soothing scents with the power to ease both mind and body. The original balm, what Latin-speakers referred to as <em>balsamum</em>, was the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oleoresin">oleoresin</a> of a species of balsam tree. In Anglo-French, <em>balsamum</em> became <em>basme</