It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for April 22nd.

Today's word is palpable, spelled P-A-L-P-A-B-L-E.

Palpable is an adjective.

Something described as palpable is obvious and notable.

Palpable may also be used as a synonym of the word

tangible to describe something that can be perceived by one's sense of touch.

Here's the word used in a sentence from the Toronto Star.

The power of the ancestral people who built Cliff Palace feels palpable as I stand inside the

Cliff Hollow, marveling at towers and rooms that slot together perfectly.

If you find it fascinating how English speakers push words with concrete meanings into

figurative use, we feel you, by which we mean we understand

you of course, not that we are patting your head or poking you in the shoulder.

Palpable, which has since the 14th century described things that can be literally felt through the skin, such as a person's pulse, has undergone an expansion similar to that of the word feel over the centuries and is now more frequently

used to describe things that cannot be touched but are still so easy to perceive that it is

as though they could be such as a palpable tension in the air.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.

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