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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

zhuzh

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster

Arts, Literature, Language Courses, Education

4.31.2K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2024

⏱️ 2 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 11, 2024 is:

zhuzh • \ZHUZH (the U is as in PUSH)\  • verb

To zhuzh something up is to improve its flavor or appearance by way of a small improvement, adjustment, or addition.

// He likes to zhuzh up his outfits with brightly-colored ties.

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Examples:

“Ever since my sister introduced me to this life-changing condiment, I’ve slathered [chili crisp] on pretty much everything I could think of—from roasted vegetables and noodles to seafood and popcorn. … That deep savory flavor comes from ingredients like fermented black bean, shallots, mushroom powder, ginger, and seaweed, so it’s no wonder it’s become my go-to pantry staple when I want to zhuzh up my dinner in a matter of seconds.” — Britt Ross, quoted on BuzzFeed, 17 Feb. 2024

Did you know?

Zhuzh (alternatively spelled zhoosh) has an onomatopoetic ring to it: it resembles other sound-effect words, such as whoosh or zoom, that suggest dynamic movement, or perhaps more appropriately, a ruffling of hair or fabric. The earliest evidence of zhuzh shows that it is part of Polari, a kind of slang known especially for its use in 20th century British gay culture. The word has been in use since at least the 1970s, and gained wild popularity during the 2018 reboot of Queer Eye, a television series in which a fellow needing help in the areas of fashion, grooming, living space, food, and social grace gets a makeover courtesy of five talented gay men. While often used as a verb (usually paired with up), zhuzh is also a noun that refers to a small improvement or adjustment, as in “my hair just needs a quick zhuzh and I’ll be ready to go.”



Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for May 11th.

0:11.0

Today's word is Juz, spelled Z-H-U-Z-H.

0:16.0

Jus is a verb.

0:18.0

To jus something up is to improve its flavor or appearance by way of a small improvement adjustment or addition.

0:25.0

Here's the word used in a sentence from buzzfeed quoting Brit Ross.

0:30.0

Ever since my sister introduced me to this life-changing condiment, I've slathered

0:36.1

chili crisp on pretty much everything I could think of, from roasted vegetables and

0:40.7

noodles to seafood and popcorn. That deep savory flavor comes from

0:45.3

ingredients like fermented black bean shallots, mushroom powder, ginger, and

0:49.8

seaweed, so it's no wonder it's become my go-to pantry staple when I want to jus up my dinner in a matter of seconds.

0:57.0

The word jusge, which is sometimes spelled with two owes rather than the U in the the middle has an onomatopoeic ring to it.

1:06.0

It resembles other sound effect words such as whoosh or zoom that suggest dynamic movement

1:11.5

or perhaps more appropriately a ruffling of hair or fabric.

1:15.7

The earliest evidence of Juz shows that it is part of Polari, a kind of slang known especially

1:21.4

for its use in 20th century British gay culture.

1:25.1

The word has been in use since at least the 1970s and gained wild popularity during the

1:29.7

1918 reboot of Queerai, a television series in which a fellow needing help in the areas of

1:36.4

fashion, grooming, living space, food, and social grace, gets a makeover courtesy of five

1:42.0

talented gay men.

1:43.3

While often used as a verb, usually paired with up,

1:47.1

jouge is also a noun that refers to a small improvement or adjustment,

1:51.9

as in my hair just needs a quick jus and I'll be ready to go.

...

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