M


mabuhay (exclamation)
Philippines
Tagalog word for:  Long live! (used in the Philippines as a greeting or to express good wishes). (NOA)
Used for telling someone that you wish them success. (MD)
May also mean may you live, cheers, welcome, and hurrah. (Wikipedia)
To live; to survive; to exist; to have life. (Tagalog.com)
An exclamation that means long live or cheers.  It is used to express good wishes, congratulations, or to celebrate someone or something.  For example, you might hear Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! which translates to Long live the Philippines!  It's a term often used in festive or patriotic contexts. (Grok)
Note:  Somewhat analogous to aloha.

mace (noun)
A ceremonial staff of office. (NOA)
A decorated rod that is carried by or put in front of particular public officials as a symbol of their authority. (CD)
An ornamental staff borne as a symbol of authority before a public official (such as a magistrate) or a legislative body.  Also, one who carries a mace. (MW)
A ceremonial staff borne or displayed as the symbol of authority of a legislative body.  Also, a macebearer. (AHD)
See:  verge

macebearer or mace-bearer or mace bearer (noun)
An official who walks before a dignitary on ceremonial occasions, carrying a mace that represents the dignitary's authority. (NOA)
An officer who carries a mace (as before a dignitary); especially, the sergeant at arms of the British House of Commons. (MW)
Note:  According to MW and AHD (just above), the macebearer can simply be referred to as the mace.
See:  verger

malarkey (noun)
Silly behavior or nonsense. (CD)
Insincere or foolish talk; bunkum. (MW)
Meaningless talk; nonsense. (NOA)
Exaggerated or foolish talk, usually intended to deceive. (AHD)
Nonsense, foolishness, messing about. (Green's)
See:  balderdash, drivel, guff, piffle, taradiddle, tripe

malediction (noun)
A magical word or phrase uttered with the intention of bringing about evil or destruction; a curse. (NOA)
Words that are intended to bring bad luck to someone or that express the hope that someone will have bad luck. (CD)
The calling down of a curse; a curse. (AHD)
Curse; execration (the act of cursing or denouncing; the curse so uttered). (MW)
The act of calling down a curse that invokes evil (and usually serves as an insult).  An evil statement directed at someone else.  A malediction is a curse, but not like the kind a witch puts on someone; more like what the schoolyard bully says to hurt someone’s feelings, on purpose. (VC)

malfeasance (noun)
Wrongdoing or misconduct, especially by a public official. (NOA)
Wrongdoing. (OED)
An example of dishonest and illegal behavior, especially by a person in authority.  The fact of someone in a position of authority intentionally doing something dishonest or illegal. (CD)
Wrongdoing or misconduct, especially by a public official; commission of an act that is positively unlawful. (CDC)
Refers to the wrongful or illegal action, especially by a public official or someone in a position of trust, involving misconduct, negligence, or violation of duty.  It often implies an act that is not only wrong but also done with corrupt or malicious intent. (Grok)
Note:  In addition to public officials, we can extend this term to anyone in a position of responsibility and certainly to fiduciaries.  For instance, we read about corporate malfeasance.  Generic term for wrongdoing or misconduct, especially of a business or financial nature.
See:  fiduciary

malinger (verb)
Exaggerate or feign illness in order to escape duty or work.  Pretend to be ill in order to escape duty or work. (OD)
To feign illness or other incapacity in order to avoid duty or work. (AHD)
To pretend or exaggerate incapacity or illness, as to avoid duty or work. (MW)
To pretend to be ill in order to avoid having to work. (CD)
To pretend to be ill or otherwise incapacitated in order to escape duty or work; shirk. (CDC)
Avoid responsibilities and duties, for example, by pretending to be ill.  Pretend to be sick. (VC)

mamil (noun)
Acronym
MAMIL:  Middle-Aged Man in Lycra.
A middle-aged man who is a very keen road cyclist, typically one who rides an expensive bike and wears the type of clothing associated with professional cyclists. (OD)
An acronym for Middle Aged Man (or Men) in Lycra, a term that is used particularly in Australia and the UK to describe a middle-aged man who rides a bike whilst adorned in lycra (aka Spandex).  It is a term mostly used by non-cyclists to describe male cyclists rather than a term that male cyclists would use to describe themselves.  It is often used to poke fun, albeit in a good natured way, in a majority of cases. (MAMILCyclist)
Humorous and somewhat disparaging:  A middle-aged man, especially an avid road cyclist, who takes exercise very seriously and wears the type of clothing, made of Lycra, associated with professional sportspeople. (OED)
Note:  The OED may well describe as humorous and somewhat disparaging, but I use this term quite derogatorily.  In fact all non-professional bike riders who dress like they are entering the Tour de France deserve nothing but derision.

man (noun)
An adult human male:  A human being whose 23rd pair of chromosomes (the sex chromosomes) are composed of one X chromosome and one Y chromosome.  As chromosomes are located in the nucleus of each and every cell in the body, this chromosomal composition is immutable.  No amount of body mutilation or hormones (new or suppressed) will change the chromosomal makeup.  Thus if you are born male, you will remain male until the day you die. (RM)
Note:  How sad is it that today, this word needs to be defined?
See:  woman

mass formation psychosis (theory of the psychology of totalitarianism)
Theory put forth by Mattias Desmet, Professor of Clinical Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium.

Summary:
Totalitarianism is characterized by processes of large scale mass formation.  Four conditions are needed for large scale mass formation:

1.  A large amount of people must feel alone and isolated. 
2.  Their lives must feel pointless and meaningless. 
3.  There must be high levels of free floating anxiety, and 
4.  There must be high levels of free-floating frustration and aggression.

If under these conditions a narrative is distributed through the mass media which indicates an object of anxiety and provides a strategy to deal with this object of anxiety, then all the free floating anxiety might be associated to this object and a huge willingness might be observed to participate in the strategy to deal with the object of anxiety.

At the same time, the field of attention gets narrower until it only contains the part of reality that is indicated by the narrative and people lose their capacity to take into account the other aspects of reality – this is what makes them often utterly irrational.  (Mattias Desmet)

Note:  In short, large groups of people become victims of fear and lose the ability to reason, and that makes them vulnerable to authoritarianism.  It is interesting to consider, what happens to a society that first becomes largely uneducated and loses all ability to reason, and then a fear element is widely introduced?  Some have aptly compared the American reaction to Covid to the rise of Nazi Germany.

mass hysteria (noun)
A condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness. (DC)
A frenzied emotional state that affects a large number of people at the same time. (CDC)
The spontaneous outbreak of atypical thoughts, feelings, or actions in a group or social aggregate.  Manifestations may include psychogenic illness, collective hallucinations, and bizarre actions.  Also called group hysteria; epidemic hysteria; collective hysteria. (American Psychological Association)

Grok:
Refers to a phenomenon where a group of people experience collective, often irrational, behavior that spreads rapidly through social networks or communities.  It typically involves symptoms like anxiety, fear, or physical symptoms that have no apparent medical cause, but which are believed to be real by those affected.  Here are some key characteristics:

Contagious Nature:  The behavior or symptoms spread quickly from person to person, often through observation or social influence.

Lack of Physical Basis:  There is usually no identifiable medical or environmental cause for the symptoms; instead, they are psychogenic or sociogenic in origin.

Shared Belief or Fear:  Often, there's a common belief or rumor that triggers the hysteria, such as a perceived threat like a mysterious illness, poison, or supernatural events.

Resolution:  Symptoms often subside once the perceived threat is alleviated or when the group disperses or the attention shifts away from the incident.

mercurial (adjective)
Changing suddenly and often. (CD)
Volatile, lively, changeable, fickle. (CDC)
Liable to sudden unpredictable change. (VC)
Of a person, subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind. (NOA)
Quick and changeable in temperament; volatile. (AHD)
Characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood. (MW)
Not necessarily derogatory.  Lively, impulsive; given to changes of mood.
(Evans & Wollard, Capricious/Mercurial, Word-Detective.com, 2013)
See:  capricious

meretricious (adjective)
Superficially plausible; specious. (CDC)
Superficially significant; pretentious. (MW)
Based on pretense; deceptively pleasing. (VC)
Plausible but false or insincere; specious. (AHD)
Seeming attractive but really false or of little value. (CD)
Apparently attractive but having in reality no value or integrity. (NOA)

merle (noun)
A coat color pattern of some dogs (such as the border collie, dachshund, and great dane) that consists of a typically bluish- or reddish-gray mixed with splotches of black or reddish- brown and that occurs as a result of the lightening or dilution of the normal base coat color so that only dark patches of normal melanin remain.  Also:  A dog displaying the coat color pattern of merle. (MW)
Merle refers to a dog’s coat pattern.  Merle dogs have mottled patches of color in a solid or piebald coat.  They could have a patched skin color on their nose and/or paw pads, and blue (or possibly odd-colored) eyes.  This is caused by inherited genes from one or both parents.  Merle is also known as dapple in some breeds, like dachshunds.  Merle dogs can come in a range of coat colors, but the pattern is usually patches of darker shades, marbled against lighter backgrounds.  The size of these patches can vary from dog to dog. (Purina.co.uk)
Grok:  For dogs, refers to a distinctive coat color pattern characterized by patches of color mixed with lighter areas.  This pattern can occur in various breeds, most notably in Australian shepherds, border collies, dachshunds, and Catahoula leopard dogs.  The merle pattern is caused by a genetic mutation which dilutes random areas of pigmentation in the coat.  Merle can manifest in different colors, such as blue merle (black diluted to gray with black patches) or red merle (red or liver diluted to cream or tan with red or liver patches).  It is important to note that breeding two merle dogs together can result in double merle puppies, which can have health issues including deafness and vision impairments due to excessive white pigmentation. (Grok)
See:  roan

metadata (noun)
Data that provides information about other data. (MW)
Information that is held as a description of stored data. (CDC)
A set of data that describes and gives information about other data. (NOA)
Information that is given to describe or help you use other information. (CD)
Data about data.  A collection of information, or data, that describes another set of data. (VC)
Data that describes other data, as in describing the origin, structure, or characteristics of computer files, webpages, databases, or other digital resources. (AHD)
Note:  Not necessarily digital, think old school library card catalog.

metrosexual (noun)
A heterosexual urban man who enjoys shopping, fashion, and similar interests traditionally associated with women or homosexual men. (NOA)
A usually urban heterosexual male given to enhancing his personal appearance by fastidious grooming, beauty treatments, and fashionable clothes. (MW)
A heterosexual man who is sensitive to stereotypic feminine interests and is very concerned with personal appearance, as in grooming and dressing stylishly. (AHD)
A man who is usually heterosexual, that is sexually or romantically attracted to women, and is very interested in fashion, grooming, and his appearance in a way that is usually seen as being like a woman. (CD)
A heterosexual man who spends a lot of time and money on his appearance and likes to shop. (CDC)
Grok:
Refers to a man who is especially meticulous about his grooming and appearance, often displaying traits traditionally associated with a stereotypically feminine vanity.  This includes a keen interest in fashion, skincare, and personal style.  The term emerged in the early 2000s to describe urban, heterosexual men who invest in their appearance with the same attention to detail as many gay men were stereotypically thought to do.  Here's a breakdown of the key components:
Grooming:  Metrosexuals typically spend more time and money on grooming products, hair care, and skincare than the average man might have in previous decades.
Fashion:  They are often seen following fashion trends, shopping in boutiques, and having a wardrobe that includes designer labels or carefully curated items.
Urban Lifestyle:  The term often implies living in or being influenced by urban environments where trends and culture are more pronounced.
Cultural Shift:  Metrosexuals reflect a cultural shift where traditional gender norms regarding appearance and self-care are less rigid, allowing men to embrace aspects of beauty and fashion without regard to traditional masculinity norms.
This term has evolved over time and its usage can vary, but at its core, it highlights a change in male grooming and style behaviors, particularly in urban settings.

mien (noun)
A person's appearance, especially the typical expression on their face. (CD)
A person’s look or manner, especially one of a particular kind indicating their character or mood. (NOA)
Air or bearing especially as expressive of attitude or personality; demeanor. (MW)
Bearing or manner, especially as it reveals an inner state of mind.  An appearance or aspect. (AHD)
A person's manner, bearing, or appearance, expressing personality or mood.  A way of carrying and conducting oneself.  A way of looking; appearance. (CDC)
A person's appearance, manner, or demeanor.  How you present yourself, the impression you make.  A look or quality that tells a lot about one's personality or temperament. (VC)

milksop (noun)
An unmanly man; a pampered or effeminate boy or man; a weak or cowardly man. (MW)
A person who is indecisive and lacks courage. (NOA)
A man lacking courage and other qualities deemed manly. (AHD)
A timid man or boy considered childish or unassertive. (VC)
A feeble or ineffectual man or youth.  A man seen as timid, ineffectual, effeminate, etc. (CDC)
An effeminate or weak-minded person. (WUD)

milquetoast (noun)
A timid or feeble person. (NOA)
A timid, meek, or unassertive person. (MW)
A timid man or boy considered childish or unassertive. (VC)
One who has a meek, timid, unassertive nature. (AHD)
A meek, submissive, timid, shrinking, or apologetic person. (CDC)
A shy, nervous person with a weak character, usually a man. (CD)

mind how you go (colloquialism)
Great Britain
Said when you say goodbye to someone, meaning take care. (CD)
Used for saying goodbye to someone who you know well. (MD)
Some people say Mind how you go when they are saying goodbye to someone who is leaving. (CDC)
Grok:  The English colloquialism Mind how you go is a friendly way of saying be careful or take care as someone is leaving or embarking on a journey.  It is often used in a parting context, similar to watch your step or safe travels.  It conveys a sense of concern for the well-being of the person you're addressing, wishing them to proceed with caution and safety.  This phrase is particularly common in British English, where it serves as a polite and warm farewell. (Grok)
See:  all right

mirth (noun)
Amusement, especially as expressed in laughter. (NOA)
Gladness and merriment, especially when expressed by laughter. (AHD)
Gladness or gaiety as shown by or accompanied with laughter. (MW)
Laughter, humor, happiness, and/or amusement. (CD)
Joyfulness, gaiety, or merriment, especially when characterized by laughter. (CDC)
Great merriment.  A formal or literary term meaning fun and enjoyment as shown by laughter. (VC)

misandry (noun)
A hatred of men. (MW)
Hatred of men. (CDC)
Hatred or mistrust of men. (AHD)
Feelings of hating men. (CD)
Dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against, men. (NOA)
misandrist (noun)
misandrous (adjective)

mollycoddle (verb)
To treat with an excessive or absurd degree of indulgence and attention. (MW)
Treat someone in an indulgent or overprotective way. (NOA)
To be overprotective and indulgent toward; pamper. (AHD)
To give someone too much care or protection. (CD)
To treat with indulgent care; pamper; coddle. (CDC)
Treat with excessive indulgence.  To spoil or overindulge.  An extreme form of coddle. (VC)

monoglot (adjective & noun)
Monolingual; having or using only one language. (MW)
Using or speaking only one language (adjective); a person who speaks only one language (noun). (NOA)
A person who knows only one language.  Knowing only one language; monolingual. (AHD)
Having command of a single language.  A person with command of a single language.  Speaking or writing only one language.  A monoglot person. (CDC)
Note:  Contrast with polyglot (usually defined as several languages, not two or more).  Leaving what?  Bilingual.  Examples:  My monoglot roommate, my polyglot roommate, or my bilingual roommate.

monopsony (noun)
Economics
A market situation in which there is only one buyer. (NOA)
A market situation in which the product or service of several sellers is sought by only one buyer. (AHD)
An oligopsony (a market situation in which each of a few buyers exerts a disproportionate influence on the market) limited to one buyer. (MW)
A situation in a market in which there is only one buyer for goods or services offered by several sellers.  A buyer who is the only one in a market in which the goods or services are offered by several sellers. (CD)
A situation in which the entire market demand for a product or service consists of only one buyer. (CDC)
Market situation in which there is only one buyer.  An example of pure monopsony is a firm that is the only buyer of labor in an isolated town.  Such a firm is able to pay lower wages than it would under competition.  Although cases of pure monopsony are rare, monopsonistic elements are found wherever there are many sellers and few purchasers. (EB)
Note:  Without disputing the EB labor example, a far more interesting example is the single buyer for military weaponry.

moocher (noun)
A person who lives off others without giving anything in return. (NOA)
One who exploits the generosity of others. (MW)
Those who passively depend on others, particularly on the productive members of society, without contributing anything back.  They are characterized by their reliance on handouts, welfare, or personal relationships where they take without giving.  Moochers are often depicted as lacking ambition, initiative, or the desire to work, instead living off the achievements of others through parasitic means. (Grok)
See:  looter

mooncalf (noun)
A foolish person. (NOA)
A fool.  A freak. (AHD)
A foolish or absentminded person; simpleton. (MW)
A person lacking intelligence.  A person who idles time away.  A freak or monster.  A person born with severe physical and mental disabilities.  A foolish person.  A person who spends time idly daydreaming. (CDC)
A person who idles time away in dreaming; someone absent-minded, distracted, or given to sentimentality. (OED)
See:  Note on Terms for Foolish, Silly, and Stupid

morena (adjective)
Philippines
Tagalog word for brown or brown-skinned. (Tagalog.com)
Grok:  Refers to a person with a brown or tan skin complexion.  It is derived from the Spanish word moreno, which means brown.  In the Filipino context, morena is often used to describe women who have naturally darker skin tones, and it can carry connotations of beauty, health, and naturalness, contrasting with the colonial-era preference for lighter skin.  However, like many terms related to skin color, its perception can vary among individuals; some embrace it positively, while others might see it as less desirable due to lingering cultural biases towards lighter skin. (Grok)
Note:  For instance, when we speak of a morena Filipina, we mean a brown or darker skin toned woman.  This is the natural color of Filipinos, as opposed to the artificially whitened or lightened skin that is so common, especially among Filipino women.

mot juste (noun)
The exactly right word or phrasing. (MW)
Exactly the right word or expression. (AHD)
The word or phrase that is exactly right in a particular situation. (CD)
The appropriate word or expression.  Exactly the word or phrase wanted; just the right word or phrase. (CDC)
The appropriate word or expression.  The exact right word for an occasion. (VC)
The precisely appropriate word or expression.  Frequently in le mot juste. (OED)
For example:  He was searching for le mot juste.  Or, the mot juste.

mountebank (noun)
A person who deceives others, especially in order to trick them out of their money; a charlatan. (NOA)
A hawker of quack medicines who attracts customers with stories, jokes, or tricks.  A flamboyant charlatan. (AHD)
A person who sells quack medicines from a platform.  A boastful unscrupulous pretender; charlatan. (MW)
Someone who pretends to be someone or something that they are not, or to be able to do something that they cannot. (CD)
A person who sold quack medicines in public places.  A person who mounted a bench, or platform, in a public place and sold quack medicines, usually attracting an audience by tricks, stories, etc.  Any charlatan, quack or fake. (CDC)
A flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes.  A fast-talking crook pretending to be an expert. (VC)

mumpsimus (noun)
A traditional custom or idea adhered to although shown to be unreasonable.  A person who obstinately adheres to old customs or ideas in spite of evidence that they are wrong or unreasonable. (OD)
One who adheres stubbornly to a mistaken practice or usage despite having been corrected by others. (AHD)
A bigoted adherent to exposed but customary error.  A custom or tenet adhered to by such a bigoted adherent. (MW)
A traditional notion that is obstinately retained despite being unreasonable.  A person who adheres to such a notion.  Adherence to or persistence in an erroneous use of language, memorization, practice, belief, etc., out of habit or obstinacy.  A person who persists in a mistaken expression or practice. (CDC)
A traditional notion that is obstinately held although it is unreasonable. (VC)
Note:  Only MW defines this as bigoted; the others just refer to it as unreasonable, stubborn, obstinate, etc.  Here's Grok on the subject:
The word mumpsimus does not inherently infer bigotry.  Mumpsimus refers to an adherence to or persistence in an erroneous use of language, custom, or opinion out of habit or obstinacy, even after the error has been pointed out.  It is used to describe someone who is stubbornly resistant to change or correction, particularly in matters of language or tradition, but it does not carry connotations of bigotry or prejudice against groups of people.

Munchausen Syndrome (psychological disorder)
A mental disorder in which a person repeatedly feigns severe illness so as to obtain hospital treatment. (OD)
A psychiatric disorder characterized by the repeated fabrication of disease signs and symptoms for the purpose of gaining medical attention. (AHD)
A psychological disorder characterized by the intentional feigning, exaggeration, or induction of the symptoms of a disease or injury in order to undergo diagnostic tests, hospitalization, or medical or surgical treatment. (MW)
Also known as:  Factitious Disorder Imposed on Self.  A type of mental illness in which a person repeatedly acts as if he has a physical or mental disorder when, in truth, he has caused the symptoms. (Cleveland Clinic)
Munchausen syndrome by proxy:
A mental disorder in which a person seeks attention by inducing or feigning illness in another person, typically a child. (OD)
A psychological disorder in which a caregiver and especially a parent induces the symptoms of a disease or injury in their child, falsifies the child's medical history, or tampers with the child's diagnostic specimens in order to create a situation that typically requires medical attention. (MW)
Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (FDIA).  Formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, is a mental health condition where you claim that someone within your care needs medical attention even though they do not.  A person within your care could be a child, usually under the age of six, a person with disabilities, or an adult over age 65, for example. (Cleveland Clinic)
See:  factitious

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