Word Wednesday is sharing my love of words with you! I like to build my vocabulary by doing things such as: subscribing to receive a daily notification from the Dictionary.com app; flipping randomly through my physical Webster’s dictionary; playing Words With Friends 2 on my cell phone; and doing crossword puzzles.
On random Wednesdays, I’ll post a word that either I had to look up its definition when I first came across it, or I simply like the way the word sounds or its meaning. Some related items I may post on Wednesdays might be: a picture that represents Wednesday’s word; a scene or character from my book that illustrates the meaning of the word; or a quote from my novel that contains that word.
TODAY’S WORD: DECATHECT
-verb (used with an object)
- to withdraw one’s feelings of attachment from (a person, idea, object), as in anticipation of future loss.
Have you ever heard this word before? Nope? Me neither!
Decathect came up on my Dictionary.com app for the Word of the Day yesterday. I thought to myself, “How ironic. I just posted Sunday about an emotionally devastating event, and now this word pops up on my cell phone screen.”
I could use this word in a sentence dealing with that heartbreaking situation this summer: A little bit each day, Melinda finds it easier to decathect from the loved one who hurt her so.
Even though I could use it in a sentence, I probably won’t ever use this word again. Why? Dictionary.com wrote this is an “extremely rare word in English.” It’s used mostly in Freudian psychology dealing with bereavement. Of course, if you want to use the word to stump others, go ahead.