What is means: Like all my other words, I had to resort to dictionary.com to figure out what this unfamiliar word meant (thank goodness I didn't have to do much searching. The defintion was already provided on the word of the day page). According to dictionary.com titubant means "a disturbance of body equilibrium in standing or walking, resulting in an uncertain gait and trembling."
Level of Familiarity: Zero, null. I have no familiarity with this word and I can honestly say that I have never encountered it before.
Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? Like I have said in previous posts I think all words are worth exploring and knowing. However, would I use this word again? Probably not.
Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...if so WHO and WHY?: I think others should find out what this word means if they are to encounter it but as far as just knowing it to know it, I don't see much use for it. Personally, I think it is a difficult word and I could see many of my students not fully understanding it, even with a definition provided to them. I also don't see or hear it being used much in the English language that I encounter, so I feel that students would learn it and then forget it because they wouldn't hear or use it again.
What a curious word. This is not a pleasant experience to think about, is it? I wonder... is it an isolated occurrence or is it a condition which someone could experience repeatedly?
ReplyDeletePerhaps anyone who has experienced this type of phenomena would be most likely to want to know the word and/or know it well. Would you agree?
Also, just a note about the link in this entry, Heather. The link took me to Dictionary.com's word of the day: anomie (Saturday 10/22). However, it didn't provide the link to the word titubant. You would want to include a link to the word for reference.