Word of the Day Archive
Thursday December 30, 2010
dithyrambic \dith-uh-RAM-bik\
, adjective:
1. Wildly enthusiastic.
2. Wildly irregular in form.
3. Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a dithyramb.
"I didn't know anyone could ever become dithyrambic about algebra," said Dick.
-- Joseph A. Altsheler, The Tree of Appomattox
This was the dithyrambic exaltation they had ardently waited for.
-- Bret Harte, A Protegee of Jack Hamlin's and other Stories
Dithyrambic is ultimately from dithyrambos, a word of unknown origin but associated with Greek, meaning "a wild choric hymn, originally in honor of Dionysus."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for dithyrambic
