23/001 Greek Word

ξενέρωτος – η – ο adjective meaning 1) sober and 2) boring

A good word to start off 2023 after eleven days of Christmas. One more to go and the festive period is over. ξενέρωτος comes from the verb ξενερώνω which means to sober up or to sober someone else up. This conjures up images of throwing buckets of cold water over the drunken person before plying him or her with cups of black coffee. Maybe that explains the second and third syllables.

In today’s Greek, the second meaning seems to be more common, and it is used to describe someone who is boring and a bit of a killjoy.

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