Scream Real Loud!

Hey Kids! It's that time again! I haven't posted a word of the day in ages. Have you ever woken up in the morning and inexplicably had a song stuck in your head that you hadn't heard for months or longer? I do that sometimes with words. For instance, the other day, I woke up with the word "plangent" running through my brain incessantly. I hadn't read it recently, and I certainly hadn't heard it in conversation with anyone--when was the last time you used that in a sentence? So, in the interest of broadening your semantic horizons, I offer you plangent as your word of the day (screaming is optional).

The OED defines plangent thusly:
Especially of the sound of waves, the sea, etc.: reverberating, mournfully resonant.

I think I must have used it in a poem years ago and since forgotten its meaning (I could only remember that it had something to do with sound), so this is a learning exercise for me as well. As I get older I have noticed that my vocabulary is dwindling rather than expanding. Last year I was reading through some old research papers from my undergrad work and noticed at least three words I had used that I no longer have any inkling of what they mean. I wish I could afford to go back to school and flex my brain a bit more. I miss being smart.