Word of the Day

: October 7, 2007

orgulous

adjective OR-gyuh-lus

What It Means

: proud

orgulous in Context

Antoine usually worked with the boutique's most elite clientele and so tended to adopt an orgulous air toward more "ordinary" customers.

Did You Know?

"In Troy, there lies the scene. From Isles of Greece / The princes orgulous, their high blood chaf'd, / Have to the port of Athens sent their ships." Thus Shakespeare began the Trojan War tale Troilus and Cressida, employing "orgulous," a colorful word first adopted in the 13th century from Anglo-French "orguillus." After the Bard's day, "orgulous" dropped from sight for 200 years; there is no record of its use until it was rejuvenated by the pens of Robert Southey and Sir Walter Scott in the early 1800s. Twentieth-century writers (including James Joyce and W.H. Auden) continued its renaissance, and today "orgulous" is an elegant choice for proud writers everywhere.