Pronounced: vuhr-BIJ-uh-rate, verb
Notes: A great word to know
Yesterday’s word
The word twee means “affectedly or excessively dainty, delicate, cute, or quaint”
First usage
Our word came into English in the 1900s (1900-1909)
Background / Comments
When I saw the word, I thought that “twee” was a shortening of “tween” that can refer to young people who are not teenagers, but no longer children (generally 8-12 years old). Our word came from baby talk — an alternation of “sweet”. It started off in the UK and originally was used as a term of affection. These days, it more often refers to things in the region of cloying. Other baby talk words that have entered our language are “dad”, “nanny”, and “buddy”.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 