This week we continue our vocabulary-building series, “The Closing Word.” Each week we provide a new word to help build your vocabulary and show you an example of how to use it.
This week’s closing word:
dross
Pronounced: (dross)
Noun:
1. worthless or dangerous material that should be removed
2. the scum formed by oxidation at the surface of molten metals
From Vocabulary.com: “While dross is a noun for stuff that’s physically left over or useless, like the nonmetallic stuff left when metal gets refined, it’s also used for people and forms of art. A really bad movie can be called dross, and a low or despicable person can be dross. Debris, or trash, is another form of dross.”
Example:
“The squatters living in the foreclosed home left behind a mountain of dross, though it didn’t much matter as the new owner planned on gutting the interior for a complete renovation.”