Apedia

Hirsute Word Meaning Latin Adjective Horrēre Source January

Hirsute describes someone or something that is hairy, especially with coarse, stiff hair.

Hirsute means hairy or covered with coarse, stiff hairs.

Word hirsute
Date January 16, 2020
Type adjective
Syllables HER-soot
Etymology Hirsute has nearly the same spelling and exactly the same meaning as its Latin parent, hirsutus. The word isn't quite one of a kind, though—it has four close relatives: hirsutism and hirsuties, synonymous nouns naming a medical condition involving excessive hair growth; hirsutal, an adjective meaning "of or relating to hair"; and hirsutulous, a mostly botanical term meaning "slightly hairy" (as in "hirsutulous stems"). The Latin hirsutus is also an etymological cousin to horrēre, meaning "to bristle." Horrēre gave rise to Latin horrōr-, horror, which has the various meanings of "standing stiffly," "bristling," "shivering," "dread," "consternation," and is the source, via Anglo-French, of our word horror. The word horripilation—a fancy word for goose bumps—is also a hirsute relation; its Latin source, horripilāre, means "to shudder," and was formed from horrēre and pilus ("hair").
Examples Turner wore a hirsute mask as part of his werewolf costume for the school play.

"Berry is a stocky, hirsute fellow, with a big, rich voice that immediately calls to mind the word 'thespian' and gives everything he says a sheen of (over)dramatic irony…." — Robert Lloyd, The Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2019
Definition 1 : hairy
2 : covered with coarse stiff hairs

Tags: wordoftheday::adjective

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