Word of the Week (WOW) is a weekly meme created by Heena Rathore P. It’s a fun way to improve vocabulary by learning new words every week.
To participate, simply do a post with your word and leave the link as a comment on Heena’s WOW post for this week (above link). It’s a nice post to do and will give you some practice with a dictionary, of which there are several online. Illustrations are by no means necessary, but it’s up to you.
Here is my WOW for this week:
Word: Hirsute
Pronunciation: hir-sute (hur-soot)
Part of Speech: Adjective
Noun: Hirsuteness (hir-sute-ness)
Meaning:
1. Hairy; shaggy : having a lot of body hair, especially on the face or body
2. (Biology) Covered with coarse, stiff hairs (as a hirute leaf)
Synonyms:
bristly, bushy, cottony, fleecy, furred, furry, hairy, rough, shaggy, unshorn, unshaven, woolly, bearded, bewhiskered
Antonyms:
bald, furless, glabrous, hairless, shorn, smooth
Word Origin:
Early 17th Century from Latin hirsutus (shaggy). Akin to Latin horrére, meaning to bristle and hirtus, meaning hairy.
Use in a sentence:
1. Many hirute males believe that chest hair makes them feel more manly.
2. Olaf was a large, hirsute Viking with an aggressive, blustery personality.
3. (Noun) Hirsuteness in men is often seen as a sign of attractiveness.
4. I found a really hirsute caterpillar feeding on one of our growing cabbages this morning.
I think this is a good word to use when describing hairy people, plants, insects and so on. It definitely adds a little something more to a sentence than merely saying ‘hairy’. It can be used to describe women too, of course, although, apart from ‘The Bearded Lady’* of Victorian fame it would not generally refer to facial hair. In women, the condition of excessive hair growth – usually dark and thick rather than fine and fair – is called HIRSUTISM.
* If anyone has never heard of this sad story, Ive added link to a Wiki page about one of these ladies HERE. (There are similar stories of other women who suffered this affliction.)
If you’d like to check out more interesting words then visit Heena’s page:
Millie Thom 
Great word, photos, and post, Millie!
Thank you, Ann. I rather like this word 🙂
interesting posting 🙂
Thank you for the nice comment, Ane. 🙂
Great word, hirsute 🙂
I think so, too, Sonya. It’s a useful one to have stashed away in your head so you can hoik it out when needed! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Interesting strong word to use for hairy!
Yes, it is a strong word, with a lot of uses in writing. Thank you for commenting, Scrapydotwo. 🙂
Extremely interesting word and post Millie. I read the write-up about Annie Jones and that truly is sad. What a sad life for a little girl. I love reading your weekly, “WOWs”.
Thank you, PJ. I’m so glad you followed the link, too. It’s a very sad story, as are several others like it. The Victorians made such people ‘freaks’ in their silly shows. How appalling is that! I do enjoy doing these word posts. Finding all the information and illustrations for them is great fun. 🙂
I agree with you. That is terribly sad they turned them into freaks! All it is is a genetic disorder. It was very interesting. Every week your Word posts are very interesting and I enjoy reading them.
I’m really pleased to hear you say that. Thanks, PJ.
Oh no, I don’t like to see people being made into freaks or ridiculed in any way. I think that is disgusting, no matter the level.
So do I. Values were very different in Victorian times. Thank goodness things are different now, and unfortunate people aren’t humiliated and ridiculed in such places.
I completely agree. I am glad that TLC produces programs about people that are different. This way, other people are able to understand them, relate to them and learn to view them as people like everyone else and not freaks. (Little people, very tiny people, twins that are born attached to each other, and people with various levels of deformities, including very obese people).
The WOW this time was seriously so hilarious especially when I saw the first pic. I just couldn’t stop laughing 😛 What a fun way to learn new word! 😉 Thank you so much Millie! ❤
I’m glad you liked the fun pictures. I love finding the illustrations for these words, Khloe. It makes it a lot of fun. Thank you! 🙂
You’re welcome 😉 It’s a great way to learn and make learning even more interesting 🙂
I think so, too. 🙂
I just found my new favorite word to call and tease my man. Haha! Thank you, Millie! This is a great post! ❤
Hirsute: attractive? I am not so sure. Unless it is a hirsute dog!!!
My feelings exactly. They weren’t my viewpoints I was expressing! Some types of hirsute are downright offputting, to put it mildly. Hirsute dogs are just cute, as are hirsure cats, guinea pigs and so on … Glad we agree on that one. 🙂
Woah! A very impressive word Millie! I agree, it’ll sound better than “the bearded lady” and “the hairy guy!”
Thanks 🙂
Thank you, Heena. I love the word hirsute! I’m hoping to get this weeks’ WOW done a little later today. I’m up to the letter J this week.