Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 9, 2025 is: gloss • \GLAHSS\ • verb To gloss a word or phrase is to provide its meaning, or in other words, to explain or define it. // Many unfamiliar terms are glossed in the book’s introduction. See the entry > Examples: “It is revealing that early dictionaries regularly defined equality as ‘conformity,’ or glossed the word, like Noah Webster did in 1806, as ‘likeness, evenness, uniformity.’” — Darrin M. McMahon, The Chronicle of Highe...
May 09, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 8, 2025 is: modicum • \MAH-dih-kum\ • noun Modicum is a formal word that means “a small amount.” It is almost always used with of . // The band enjoyed a modicum of success in the early 2010s before becoming an international sensation. See the entry > Examples: “Imagine, for example, that the gods decided to bestow upon Sisyphus a modicum of mercy. The rock, the hill, the never-ending, pointless labor all remained nonnegotiable as far as ...
May 08, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 7, 2025 is: bumptious • \BUMP-shus\ • adjective Bumptious describes people who are rudely and often noisily confident or over-assertive. It can also be applied to actions or behaviors that show this same attitude. // Our host apologized for the bumptious party guest who caused a scene before being asked to leave. See the entry > Examples: "She comes across as a bumptious , irritating ten-year-old who believes that her main vice, her steam...
May 07, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 6, 2025 is: exculpate • \EK-skull-payt\ • verb To exculpate someone is to prove that they are not guilty of doing something wrong. // The editorial expresses confidence that the evidence will exculpate the accused. See the entry > Examples: “Research shows that social-media use is associated with greater narcissism (as well as depression and anxiety).... But it is too easy to exculpate ourselves as a society by pointing to technology and ...
May 06, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 5, 2025 is: plethora • \PLETH-uh-ruh\ • noun Plethora refers to a very large amount or number of something. Plethora is most often used in the phrase "a plethora of." // The hotel offers a plethora of amenities, including indoor and outdoor pools, a fitness center, and world-class dining. See the entry > Examples: "In 1895, Japan won Taiwan from China in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ending the Sino-Japanese War, and from 1895 to 1945, the i...
May 05, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 4, 2025 is: risible • \RIZZ-uh-bul\ • adjective Risible is a formal word used disapprovingly to describe things that deserve to be mocked or laughed at because they are absurd or unreasonable. // Although the teachers derided the students’ slang as risible nonsense, the same had been said about their own generation’s lingo. See the entry > Examples: "Smartwatches and smartphones are banned in my children’s schools during the school day, w...
May 04, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 3, 2025 is: sleuth • \SLOOTH\ • verb To sleuth is to carefully or methodically search for information, or to act as a detective. // We spent hours at the flea market sleuthing for 19th century paintings. See the entry > Examples: "To fill the market with vintage treasure, we called upon some of the industry’s best dressed—Anok Yai, Emma Chamberlain, Hamish Bowles, Julia Sarr-Jamois, Kaia Gerber, Paloma Elsesser, Tabitha Simmons, Tonne Goo...
May 03, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 2, 2025 is: ziggurat • \ZIG-uh-rat\ • noun A ziggurat is an ancient Mesopotamian temple consisting of a pyramidal structure built in successive stages with outside staircases and a shrine at the top. The word ziggurat is also sometimes used for a similarly shaped structure. // Ancient ziggurats were always built with a core of mud brick and an exterior covered with baked brick. They had no internal chambers and were usually square or rect...
May 02, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 2, 2025 is: ziggurat • \ZIG-uh-rat\ • noun A ziggurat is an ancient Mesopotamian temple consisting of a pyramidal structure built in successive stages with outside staircases and a shrine at the top. The word ziggurat is also sometimes used for a similarly shaped structure. // Ancient ziggurats were always built with a core of mud brick and an exterior covered with baked brick. They had no internal chambers and were usually square or rect...
May 02, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 1, 2025 is: convoluted • \KAHN-vuh-loo-tud\ • adjective Something described as convoluted is very complicated and difficult to understand, or has many curves and turns. // The speaker’s argument was so convoluted that most of the audience had trouble determining whether they were for or against the new policy. // The route from the airport to the village was long and convoluted . See the entry > Examples: “The publishing house had recentl...
May 01, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 30, 2025 is: insouciance • \in-SOO-see-unss\ • noun Insouciance is a formal word that refers to a feeling of carefree unconcern. It can also be understood as a word for the relaxed and calm state of a person who is not worried about anything. // The young actor charmed interviewers with his easy smile and devil-may-care insouciance . See the entry > Examples: “ Gladiator II is OK when Denzel’s off-screen, but sensational when he’s on it...
Apr 30, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 29, 2025 is: furtive • \FER-tiv\ • adjective Furtive describes something that is done in a quiet and secret way to avoid being noticed. It can also mean "expressive of stealth" or " sly " (as in "a furtive look"), or "obtained underhandedly" (as in "furtive gains"). // We exchanged furtive smiles across the table, carefully not to attract the teacher's attention. See the entry > Examples: "Like cardinals, Carolina wrens have slowly and ...
Apr 29, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 28, 2025 is: alacrity • \uh-LAK-ruh-tee\ • noun Alacrity refers to a quick and cheerful readiness to do something. // She accepted the invitation to go on the trip with an alacrity that surprised her parents, who had assumed she wouldn’t be interested. See the entry > Examples: “Antipater, about to mount his horse, saw Pollio and Sameas so close to him that the sleeve of Sameas almost touched his own in the crush. … Antipater had gracio...
Apr 28, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 27, 2025 is: decimate • \DESS-uh-mayt\ • verb Decimate can mean both “to destroy a large number of (plants, animals, people, etc.)” or “to severely damage or destroy a large part of (something).” // The bay’s lobsters have been decimated by disease. // Budget cuts have decimated public services throughout the state. See the entry > Examples: “The deer—and there is an abundance of those animals this year—got into my beans and within a fe...
Apr 27, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 26, 2025 is: nonchalant • \nahn-shuh-LAHNT\ • adjective Someone described as nonchalant is relaxed and calm, either because they do not care about something or because they are not worried about something. Nonchalant can also be used to describe something, such as demeanor or behavior, that expresses such relaxed, calm unconcern. // The team showed a somewhat nonchalant attitude at the beginning of the season, but they became more serio...
Apr 26, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 25, 2025 is: travail • \truh-VAIL\ • noun Travail is a formal word, usually used in plural, that refers to a difficult experience or situation. // The book describes the political travails of the governor during her first year in office. See the entry > Examples: "Written by Samy Burch, the film [ Coyote vs. Acme ] follows the travails of the desert denizen who is tired of being slammed with Acme products as he tries to outsmart the Roa...
Apr 25, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 24, 2025 is: ostensible • \ah-STEN-suh-bul\ • adjective Ostensible is used to describe something that seems or is said to be true or real, but is possibly not true or real. In other words, it is plausible rather than demonstrably true or real. // The ostensible purpose of a filibuster is to extend debate, but in reality it is used to delay or prevent action. See the entry > Examples: “No drums, no bass, no conventional song structures: ...
Apr 24, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 23, 2025 is: slough • \SLUFF\ • verb Slough is a formal verb used for the action of getting rid of something unwanted. It is usually used with off . Slough can also mean "to lose a dead layer of (skin)" or "to become shed or cast off." // The editorial urges the mayor not to slough off responsibility for the errors in the report. // The exfoliating cleanser promises to gently slough away dead skin cells. See the entry > Examples: "Befor...
Apr 23, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 23, 2025 is: slough • \SLUFF\ • verb Slough is a formal verb used for the action of getting rid of something unwanted. It is usually used with off . Slough can also mean "to lose a dead layer of (skin)" or "to become shed or cast off." // The editorial urges the mayor not to slough off responsibility for the errors in the report. // The exfoliating cleanser promises to gently slough away dead skin cells. See the entry > Examples: "Befor...
Apr 23, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 22, 2025 is: liaison • \lee-AY-zahn\ • noun Liaison refers to a person who helps organizations or groups work together and provide information to each other, or to a relationship that allows such interactions. Liaison can also refer to an illicit sexual relationship. // The new position involves acting as a liaison between the police department and city schools. // The committee has maintained close liaison with some of the former board...
Apr 22, 2025•2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 21, 2025 is: bodacious • \boh-DAY-shuss\ • adjective Bodacious is used as an informal synonym of remarkable and noteworthy , as well as sexy and voluptuous . In some dialects of the Southern and Midland US, bodacious is used by its oldest meaning: " outright , unmistakable ." // The bodacious decor of the boutique hotel is intended to appeal to the young and the hip. See the entry > Examples: "There’s no need to lug in a 6-foot specimen...
Apr 21, 2025•2 min
