Advanced English Skills

Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub pull in If a train, a truck or a car pulls in, it arrives somewhere. ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Idiom of the Day take a fit To become very or unreasonably angry or upset; to have an outburst of rage, frustration, or ill temper. Watch the video ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Word of the Day unnerve Definition: (verb) To cause to lose courage, strength, confidence, self-control, etc. Synonyms: faze, unsettle, enervate. Usage: The look on her father's face unnerved her, and she soon dropped her gaze and meekly waited for him to tell her what her punishment would be. Discuss ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Idiom of the Day a cat nap A very brief but restful period of sleep. Watch the video ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Word of the Day whittle Definition: (verb) To cut small bits or pare shavings from (a piece of wood). Synonyms: pare. Usage: For my eighth birthday, my grandfather taught me how to whittle a toy boat from a scrap of firewood. Discuss ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day ostracize Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 1, 2025 is: ostracize • \AH-struh-syze\  • verb To ostracize someone is to exclude them from a group by the agreement of the group's members. // She was ostracized by her community after refusing to sign the petition. See the entry > Examples: "Telling stories with affection and noodging, [comedian Sarah] Silverman has always been encouraged by her family, who embraced rather than ostracized her for revealing family secrets on the way to reaping howls of laughter." — Thelma Adams, The Boston Globe, 19 May 2025 Did you know? In ancient Greece, citizens whose power or influence threatened the stability of the state could be exiled by a practice involving voters writing that person's name down on a potsherd—a fragment of earthenware or pottery. Those receiving enough votes would then be subject to temporary exile from the state. Ostracize comes from the Greek verb ostrakízein (itself from the noun óstrakon meaning "potsherd"), used in 5th century Athens for the action of banishing someone by way of such a vote. Someone ostracized today is not exiled, but instead is excluded from a group by the agreement of the group's members. ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub on the take to be receiving illegal payments or bribes ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub lose out If you lose out, you fail to benefit from something that others are benefitting from. ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Word of the Day Word of the Day: felicitous This word has appeared in eight articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence? ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Idiom of the Day take a breather To take a short pause or hiatus (from something). Watch the video ➖ Sent by @TheFeedReaderBot ➖ ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Word of the Day exterminate Definition: (verb) Kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many. Synonyms: kill off. Usage: Hitler wanted to exterminate the Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and homosexuals of Europe. Discuss ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Wordsmith.org: Today's Word mycophile noun: A mushroom enthusiast. ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day hobgoblin Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 31, 2025 is: hobgoblin • \HAHB-gahb-lin\  • noun A hobgoblin is a mischievous goblin that plays tricks in children’s stories. When used figuratively, hobgoblin refers to something that causes fear or worry. // This Halloween we were greeted at our door by werewolves, mummies, and a wide assortment of sweet-toothed hobgoblins. See the entry > Examples: “Vampires and zombies took a big bite out of the horror box office in Sinners and 28 Years Later, and with Del Toro’s Frankenstein hitting theaters next week, it would seem that a return to classic marquee monsters is one of the stories of this summer’s movie season. But there’s one old-school hobgoblin that’s lurking around the edges of this narrative, omnipresent, repeated across a number of notable new titles, but still somehow avoiding the limelight: the witch ...” — Payton McCarty-Simas, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Aug. 2025 Did you know? While a goblin is traditionally regarded in folklore as a grotesque, evil, and malicious creature, a hobgoblin tends to be more of a playful troublemaker. (The character of Puck from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream might be regarded as one.) First appearing in English in the early 1500s, hobgoblin combined goblin (ultimately from the Greek word for “rogue,” kobalos) with hob, a word from Hobbe (a nickname for Robert) that was used both for clownish louts and rustics and in fairy tales for a mischievous sprite or elf. The American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson famously applied the word’s extended sense in his essay Self-Reliance: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub get (3) | get to to annoy or upset someone ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub lay aside to keep something for the future, such as money ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Word of the Day Word of the Day: rectitude This word has appeared in 12 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence? ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Idiom of the Day take a breath To inhale and then exhale. Watch the video ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Word of the Day caboodle Definition: (noun) Any collection in its entirety. Synonyms: bunch, lot. Usage: The art collection was originally going to be auctioned off piece by piece, but the owner decided at the last moment to donate the whole caboodle to the local museum. Discuss ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Wordsmith.org: Today's Word onychophagy noun: The practice of biting one's nails. ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day truculent Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 30, 2025 is: truculent • \TRUCK-yuh-lunt\  • adjective Truculent describes a person who is easily annoyed and eager to argue or fight. It can also describe the mood or attitude of such a person. // The approach of multiple deadlines had put me in a truculent mood, and I could tell my colleagues were avoiding me. See the entry > Examples: “It’s the holidays, and strings of gaudy rainbow lights twinkle from gables. In cozy living rooms, the elders doze in their chairs while middle-aged siblings bicker and booze it up around the dining table. Little kids squirm in makeshift beds trying to stay awake for Santa, while truculent teenagers sneak out into the suburban night to do secret teenager things.” — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 24 May 2024 Did you know? English speakers adopted truculent from Latin in the mid-16th century, trimming truculentus, a form of the Latin adjective trux, meaning “savage,” and keeping the word’s meaning. Apparently in need of a new way to describe what is cruel and fierce, they applied truculent both to brutal things (wars, for example) and people (such as tyrants). Eventually even a plague could be truculent. In current use, though, the word has lost much of its etymological fierceness. It now typically describes the sort of person who is easily annoyed and eager to argue, or language that is notably harsh. ➖ @EngSkills ➖