Word of the Day: GLIB
Fluent but facile
glib (adj) - expressed in a smooth but careless, insincere, or superficial way; skillfully persuasive [glib]
glibness is the quality of confident and charming but thoughtless and shallow speech
BREAKDOWN: The word glib is actually what remains of a longer (and more fun to say) word: glibbery, which meant slippery. Glib can be traced back to the Low German glibberig meaning smooth or slippery but ultimately traces back to the root GEL- meaning to shine in words like gild and glisten.
“The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which seem to us novel and plausible, have been tested before, not once but many times and in innumerable guises; and discovered to be, at great human cost, wholly false.” —Paul Johnson
[Our Wednesday Wildcards are fascinating and important words that are not necessarily or obviously derived from classical roots.]