Pronounced: pruh-so-puh-PEE-uh (also spelled prosopopoeia)
Notes: Quite a long word!
Yesterday’s phrase
The phrase scarlet pimpernel means, as one might guess, “a person who rescues others from mortal danger by smuggling them across a border”.
Background/Notes
The book The Scarlet Pimpernel came out in 1903 and was popular. English speakers began to use scarlet pimpernel to refer to anyone who smuggled people in danger to a safe haven in another country. Over the years, the term has become more generalized and can now refer to a person who is daring, mysterious, or evasive.
First usage
This word began to be used in the early 1900s.
Rejected word
I rejected wraith because I knew the meaning.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 