consummate

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The Word of the Day for January 22 is:

consummate   \KAHN-suh-mut\   adjective
     1 : complete in every detail : perfect
     2 : extremely skilled and accomplished
    *3 : of the highest degree

Example sentence:
     It was only due to Blanford's consummate negotiating skills that a major 
crisis was avoided.

Did you know?
     "Consummate," which derives from the Latin verb "consummare" (meaning "to 
sum up, finish"), has been used as an adjective in English since at least 1527. 
Some usage commentators feel the word is overused and others think it should be 
limited to the "perfect" sense (as in "a consummate little model of a clipper 
ship"), but neither of those positions is more than an opinion. All of the 
senses of the word are well-established and have served careful writers well 
for many, many years.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.