guttural

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 22, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>guttural</strong> &#149; \GUTT-uh-rul\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> articulated in the throat</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/velar">velar</a></p> <p><strong>3 :</strong> being or marked by utterance that is strange, unpleasant, or disagreeable</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>We asked the bouncer for directions, but he only responded with an inarticulate <em>guttural</em> grunt.</p> <p>"And when you hear the strange <em>guttural</em> call of the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/red-bellied%20woodpecker">Red Bellied Woodpecker</a>, you wonder, who would respond to that weird sound?" — Joseph Palmer, <em>The Brooklyn (New York) Eagle</em>, 14 June 2021</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Though it is now used to describe many sounds or utterances which strike the listener as harsh or disagreeable, the adjective <em>guttural</em> was originally applied only to sounds and utterances produced in the throat. This is reflected in the word's Latin root—<em>guttur</em>, meaning "throat." Despite the similarity in sound, <em>guttural</em> is not related to the English word <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gutter">gutter</a></em>, which comes (by way of Anglo-French) from Latin <em>gutta</em>, meaning "drop."</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>