Word of the Day

: September 4, 2024

ensconce

verb in-SKAHNSS

What It Means

Someone or something ensconced is firmly placed or hidden. Ensconce can be a synonym of shelter and conceal, or of establish and settle.

// The sculpture is safely ensconced behind glass.

// He ensconced himself in the library's back room for the afternoon.

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ensconce in Context

"Portraying the autocratic chancellor of an unnamed Central European country ... is Kate Winslet, whose increasingly delusional strongwoman is also a germaphobe ensconced in a luxury hotel that she’s turned into her personal palace." — Andy Meek, BGR.com, 4 Mar. 2024

Did You Know?

You might think of a sconce (the word that when combined with the prefix en- forms ensconce) as a type of candleholder or lamp, but the word can also refer to a defensive fortification, usually one made of earth. Originally, then, a person who was ensconced was enclosed in or concealed by such a structure, out of harm's way. One of the earliest writers to apply the verb ensconce with the general sense of "hide" was William Shakespeare. In The Merry Wives of Windsor the character Falstaff, hoping to avoid detection when he is surprised during an amorous moment with Mrs. Ford, says "She shall not see me; I will ensconce me behind the arras."