A particularly useful adjective this week. The next time you can’t hear yourself think because of excessive noise, tell your obstreperous child / spouse / neighbor / coworker / pet to hush. The fun part is they will be wondering what you called them and won’t realize you said they were noisy or stubbornly resistant to control.

The etymology traces back to the Latin ob- (against) and -strepere (to make a noise), which creates the original meaning of the word. The definition of resisting control is much younger, dating back to the 1600’s.

Though primarily used as an adjective, the word can be used as an adverb (obstreperously) or noun (obstreperousness).

Go have fun with this one!

P.S. – I asked last week for suggestions to replace the boring “Vocabulary Word Of The Week.” What do you think about “Spectacular Vernacular?”