Word of the Day

: August 4, 2019

faze

verb FAYZ

What It Means

: to disturb the composure of : disconcert, daunt

faze in Context

My grandfather was a stolid individual who was not easily fazed by life's troubles.

"The heat didn't faze the crowd, though, as families swarmed up to Kirkbride Park to browse vendors and watch performances." — Johanna Armstrong, The Fergus Falls (Minnesota) Daily Journal, 8 June 2019

Did You Know?

Faze (not to be confused with phase) first appeared in English in the early 1800s—centuries after the works of Shakespeare and Chaucer were penned. But both of those authors were familiar with the word's ancient parent: faze is an alteration of the now-rare verb feeze, which has been in use since the days of Old English (in the form fēsian), when it meant "to drive away" or "to put to flight." By the 1400s, it was also being used with the meaning "to frighten or put into a state of alarm." The word is still used in some English dialects as a noun meaning "rush" or "a state of alarm or excitement."