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April 27, 2018

Word of the Day: Querulous

1 CQ

Word of the Day : April 27, 2018

querulous \KWAIR-yuh-lus\ adjective

Definition

1 : habitually complaining

2 : fretful, whining

Did You Know?

English speakers have tagged fearful whiners querulous since late medieval times. The Middle English form of the word, querelose, was an adaptation of the Latin adjective, querulus, which in turn evolved from the Latin verb queri, meaning "to complain." Queri is also an ancestor of the English words quarrel and quarrelsome, but it isn't an ancestor of the noun query (meaning "question"). No need to complain that we're being coy; we're happy to let you know that query descends from the Latin verb quaerere, meaning "to ask."

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                                  betray
                                  shift
                                  dispatch
                                  return








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Aired April 27, 2018

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