Word of the Day Archive
Thursday June 27, 2002
nadir \NAY-dir; nay-DIR\ , noun:
1. [Astronomy]. The point of the celestial sphere directly opposite the zenith and directly below the observer.
2. The lowest point; the time of greatest depression or adversity.
Exploitation reached a nadir in the 1920s, when high government officials were implicated in a flourishing international slave trade and domestic forced labor.
-- Bill Berkeley, The Graves Are Not Yet Full
At the nadir of every recession, business pages fill up with stories of belt-tightening families who move to Vermont and buy their food in bulk.
-- Peter T. Kilborn, "Splurge", New York Times, June 21, 1998
Nadir is derived from Arabic nazir, "opposite."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for nadir
