Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 26, 2026 is: devolve • dih-VAHLV • verb To devolve is to gradually go from an advanced state to a less advanced state, or to pass something, such as responsibility or power, from one person or group to another at a lower level of authority. // Somehow the debate devolved into a petty competition to see who could get more applause. // Community leaders hope that the new government will devolve more power to the community itself. See the entry > Examples: “He accused board members of personally profiting from the parking and landscaping policies. Board meetings soon devolved into a cacophony of charges, countercharges and shouting.” — Elizabeth Williamson, The New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025 Did you know? Evolve? Check. Revolve? Check. Devolve? Now we're on a roll—literally. All three of these words (and more) evolved from the Latin verb volvere, meaning “to set in a circular course, to cause to roll, to bring round.” The Latin ēvolvere means “to roll out or away”; revolvere means “to roll back to a starting point”; and dēvolvere means “to roll (something) down.” In its earliest uses in the 15th century, devolve literally meant “to roll onward or downward.” Today the word is typically used for a more figurative rolling down, as when an organization devolves power—that is, passes power down—to those at a lower level of authority, or when a deteriorating situation is described as “devolving into chaos.” One word, multiple uses. That's just how English rolls.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 25, 2026 is: tilde • TIL-duh • noun Tilde refers to the mark ~ placed especially over the letter n (as in the Spanish señor, meaning "sir") to denote the sound nʸ, or over vowels (as in the Portuguese irmã, meaning "sister") to indicate nasality. When a tilde appears as an independent character, it usually means "approximately" (as in "we'll be there in ~ 30 minutes"). // A familiar example of the tilde appears in the name of the Brazilian city São Paulo. See the entry > Examples: "Californians with accents, tildes and other diacritical marks in their names will soon be able to have their vital records accurately reflect their names." — Linh Tat, Orange County (California) Register, 30 Dec. 2025 Did you know? The terms piña colada and La Niña share more than just a "cool" factor: both are Spanish loan words whose spellings include tildes, those wavy marks which in these examples are placed over the letter n to indicate a blend of the sounds of n and y. Tilde is itself a Spanish borrowing rooted in the Latin titulus, an ancestor of the English words title and titular that means "title" or "inscription." The Spanish and English applications of tilde are distinct. In Spanish, tilde refers most commonly to the accent symbol, while ñ is its own member of the alphabet (pronounced "EN-yay"). In contrast, English speakers use tilde specifically for the aforementioned mark. In addition to functioning as a diacritic—that is, a mark paired with a character to indicate pronunciation—the tilde may be used as an independent character to indicate approximation, negation in logic, or similarity in mathematics.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 25, 2026 is: tilde • TIL-duh • noun Tilde refers to the mark ~ placed especially over the letter n (as in the Spanish señor, meaning "sir") to denote the sound nʸ, or over vowels (as in the Portuguese irmã, meaning "sister") to indicate nasality. When a tilde appears as an independent character, it usually means "approximately" (as in "we'll be there in ~ 30 minutes"). // A familiar example of the tilde appears in the name of Brazil's capital city, São Paulo. See the entry > Examples: "Californians with accents, tildes and other diacritical marks in their names will soon be able to have their vital records accurately reflect their names." — Linh Tat, Orange County (California) Register, 30 Dec. 2025 Did you know? The terms piña colada and La Niña share more than just a "cool" factor: both are Spanish loan words whose spellings include tildes, those wavy marks which in these examples are placed over the letter n to indicate a blend of the sounds of n and y. Tilde is itself a Spanish borrowing rooted in the Latin titulus, an ancestor of the English words title and titular that means "title" or "inscription." The Spanish and English applications of tilde are distinct. In Spanish, tilde refers most commonly to the accent symbol, while ñ is its own member of the alphabet (pronounced "EN-yay"). In contrast, English speakers use tilde specifically for the aforementioned mark. In addition to functioning as a diacritic—that is, a mark paired with a character to indicate pronunciation—the tilde may be used as an independent character to indicate approximation, negation in logic, or similarity in mathematics.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 24, 2026 is: expeditious • ek-spuh-DISH-us • adjective Expeditious is a formal word that is used to describe someone acting in a quick and efficient way, or something done in such a manner. // Both sides hoped for an expeditious resolution of the dispute. See the entry > Examples: “Inspectors were on campus Friday afternoon with a certified arborist to determine which trees are protected and the extent to which any damage or removals have occurred, according to the city. ‘The City is prepared to conduct this inspection work in an expeditious manner and supports the goal of returning students to a safe campus as soon as possible,' the city's statement said.” — Ryan Carter, The Los Angeles Daily News, 10 July 2026 Did you know? Expeditious has had quite the journey through the English language. It comes to us from the related noun expedition, which in turn comes from the Latin verb expedire (“to set free” or “to make ready”). When expedition first set forth in English in the 1400s, it did so with two meanings that are still in use today, “a journey especially by a group of people for a specific purpose” and “efficient promptness.” Expeditious followed as an adjectival form of the latter. Something (such as, say, preparation for a long voyage) done expeditiously is done quickly and efficiently; in other words, it is expedited. Like expeditious and expedition, expedite too comes from expedire.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 23, 2026 is: prowess • PROW-us • noun Prowess refers to someone's great ability, skill, or talent for something specified, as in “the pop star's vocal prowess” or “a lawyer of great prowess.” // Already a proven virtuoso on guitar, she extends her considerable instrumental prowess to the piano throughout her new album as well. See the entry > Examples: “On another Friday ... I led a nature writing workshop at the library's Fowler branch. ... I had everyone draw a map of a place they loved and populate their maps with landmarks. Then we all went around and shared our drawings. Inevitably (after first acknowledging our lack of artistic prowess) stories emerged. Walks with long-gone, beloved dogs. Times someone had been caught out in bad weather.” — Steve Edwards, Literary Hub, 4 Dec. 2025 Did you know? Prowess is a word with a lot to be proud of. Not only has it performed gallantly for the English language since the 13th century, but it has stayed relatively stalwart in hewing to its original meaning, which is quite an accomplishment. When prowess first joined the ranks of the lexicon, it could be used to refer to bravery, skill, and valor—especially those virtues as encountered in military contexts—or to individual acts of derring-do. The latter was usually used in the plural, as when people waxed rhapsodic about the “prowesses” of knights or some such. Today's “extraordinary ability” meaning, which developed in the 17th century, tends to stick to the singular form, as when it's used to describe those with intellectual prowess, or to someone known for their prowess as a fundraiser. 

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 22, 2026 is: august • aw-GUST • adjective The word august, which is pronounced with the accent on "gust," describes someone or something marked by majestic dignity or grandeur. // We toured the old mansion's august halls and expansive grounds. See the entry > Examples: "His tone is temperate, but the words echo through the State Capitol's Assembly chamber, the august backdrop for his speech." — Maya Singer, Vogue, 1 Feb. 2026 Did you know? The Roman republican calendar spanned just ten months, from March (then Martius) through December. The last five months were each named for their numerical place on the calendar: Quintilis (fifth), Sextilis (sixth), September (seventh), October (eighth), November (ninth), and December (tenth). January and February were eventually added to create a twelve-month year, obscuring the relationship between these months and their titles. So it was a welcome change when the Roman Senate honored Gaius Octavius (aka Octavian), the first Roman emperor, by changing Sextilis to Augustus—the designation taken by Octavian from the Latin adjective augustus meaning "worthy of honor" or "venerable." Although August has been the English name of the eighth month of the year since before the 12th century, it wasn't until the late 1500s that august came to be used as an adjective (pronounced aw-GUST), more or less as augustus was in Latin.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 21, 2026 is: rigmarole • RIG-uh-muh-rol • noun Rigmarole refers to a long, complicated, and annoying process, description, etc. // We went through the rigmarole of installing, registering, and activating the software before we found out it wouldn't work. See the entry > Examples: “Over the last 10 years or so, I've had an on-again, off-again relationship with running. On the one hand, I love it for the mental benefits. My mind always feels clearer after a run and it can be an escape from the rigmarole of life. But on the other hand, it seems that every few years, some mild injury befalls me that slows my momentum, or I move to a new city and lose the routine of running at a time and place.” — Maura Fox, The San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Sept. 2025 Did you know? In the Middle Ages, the term Rageman or Ragman referred to a game in which a player randomly selected a string attached to a roll of verses and read the selected verse. The roll was called a Ragman roll after a fictional king purported to be the author of the verses. By the 16th century, ragman and ragman roll were being used figuratively to mean “a list or catalog.” Both terms fell out of written use, but ragman roll persisted in speech, and in the 18th century it resurfaced in writing as rigmarole, with the meaning “a succession of confused, meaningless, or foolish statements.” In the mid-19th century rigmarole (also spelled rigamarole, reflecting its common pronunciation) acquired the sense referring to a complex and tedious procedure.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 20, 2026 is: divulge • dih-VULJ • verb To divulge something, especially secret or private information, is to make it known. // Rather than divulge the baby name we've chosen, we're waiting till the little one arrives to make introductions. See the entry > Examples: “Sun Ra's agent had called, he said. ... The Arkestra was heading out on tour soon, to Europe, and Sonny wanted the three of us to join him. ... After we'd calmed down, Don divulged the hitch: the tour would take us away for the school year's last weeks, meaning we would miss exams and also all the end-of-college parties.” — Michael Lowenthal, Place Envy: Essays in Search of Orientation, 2026 Did you know? Information divulged is typically secret, or known only to insiders, and it isn't usually shouted from the rooftops. But when divulge first entered English in the 15th century, it did so as a synonym of proclaim: divulging involved declaring or announcing something to the public, a duty of town criers from Lizard Point to Dunnet Head. The word's source is the Latin verb vulgare, “to make known,” which traces ultimately back to the Latin noun vulgus, meaning “common people” or “mob.” While nowadays divulge can presumably involve blabbing to the rabble, the word usually implies a more careful and considered approach to sharing sensitive information.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 19, 2026 is: balmy • BAH-mee • adjective Balmy is an adjective that is often used to describe weather that is warm, calm, and pleasant. It can also be used to describe someone or something (such as an idea) that is foolish or irrational. // After a long, eight-hour drive, we were rewarded with a mild, balmy evening at our vacation spot on the shores of Lake Erie. // Despite being a devout Green Bay fan, she finds the idea of attending games in head-to-toe yellow and green body paint to be a bit balmy. See the entry > Examples: “Everyone is encouraged to bring chairs, snacks and coolers, and remember the flashlights for the walk back to the parking lot. Leashed dogs are welcome, too. These evenings are all about enjoying good music on a balmy summer night.” — The Sun (Elizabethtown, New York), 18 June 2026 Did you know? Aromatic ointments and fragrances are the bomb. They are also, literally, balms: healing substances and soothing scents with the power to ease both mind and body. The original balm, what Latin-speakers referred to as balsamum, was the oleoresin of a species of balsam tree. In Anglo-French, balsamum became basme and baume, spellings which entered Middle English and later became balm. Balm eventually begat the adjective balmy, used to describe things with a balm's comforting, calming qualities, as when Shakespeare's Othello speaks of “balmy slumbers.” Today balmy is typically used to describe the weather—balmy breezes, balmy temperatures, balmy spring afternoons, et al—conditions that are neither too hot nor too cold, but just right—Goldilocks conditions, even.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 18, 2026 is: oxymoron • ahk-sih-MOR-ahn • noun An oxymoron is a combination of words that have opposite or very different meanings, such as "cruel kindness" or "open secret." In broader usage, oxymoron can also refer to something (such as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements. // Some of Shakespeare's most famous plays are filled with oxymorons such as "loving hate" and "tragical mirth." See the entry > Examples: "Even the most environmentally aware beauty editors I know (perhaps that's an oxymoron, given the amount of product we have to test for our jobs…) use sheet masks on a weekly basis, and the trend is showing no signs of slowing." — Melanie Macleod, Hello Magazine, 15 Apr. 2026 Did you know? The ancient Greeks exhaustively classified the elements of rhetoric, or effective speech and writing, and gave the name oxymoron—literally "pointed foolishness"—to the deliberate juxtaposing of seemingly contradictory words. The roots of oxymoron, oxys meaning "sharp" or "keen," and mōros meaning "foolish," are nearly antonyms themselves, making oxymoron nicely self-descriptive. Oxymoron originally applied to a meaningful paradox condensed into a couple of words, as in "lonely crowd" or "sweet sorrow." Today, however, what is commonly cited as an oxymoron is often simply a curiosity of language, where one or both elements have multiple meanings (shrimp in "jumbo shrimp" doesn't mean "small"; it refers to a sea creature), or a phrase whose elements seem antithetical in spirit, such as "organized chaos."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 17, 2026 is: lackadaisical • lak-uh-DAY-zih-kul • adjective Something or someone described as lackadaisical is lacking in interest, enthusiasm, or zest. // Feeling particularly lackadaisical in the summer heat, they lazily tossed a ball back and forth. See the entry > Examples: "The defense was lackadaisical at best, while the offense wasn't much better." — Shreyas Laddha, The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, New York), 7 Feb. 2026 Did you know? We're too enthusiastic about the lexicon to be lackadaisical about words, but lackadaisical itself is rooted in the sort of sorrow that can put a damper on one's passion for vocabulary expansion. When folks living from the late 17th to the late 19th century had one of those days when nothing goes right, they could cry "Lackaday!" to express their sorrow and disappointment as a shortened form of the expression "alack the day." (Alack is an interjection used to express sorrow or regret.) By the mid-1700s, the adjective lackadaisical had been formed to describe such weary and exasperated folks, as well as their half-hearted doings and sayings. Today the word has lost some of its dreariness and most often describes the languid and lazy.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 16, 2026 is: zeugma • ZOOG-muh • noun Zeugma refers to wordplay in which a single word relates to other words in such a way that it means something different in each case, as in “building a boat and a reputation” and “open a book along with your mind.” // A clever use of zeugma was demonstrated by Groucho Marx's character Rufus T. Firefly in Duck Soup (1933): “You can leave in a taxi. If you can't get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff.” See the entry > Examples: “... in an evocative use of zeugma—my favorite literary device ... [Oyinkan] Braithwaite writes, ‘The old house and everyone in it was falling apart.'” — Hudson Warm, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2 Nov. 2025 Did you know? “Zeugma, like the pun, is economical: it contracts two sentences into one . . .; it links unrelated terms—mental with moral, abstract with physical, high with low—and thus generates surprise,” wrote Walter Redfern in Puns (1984). Zeugma, which has been a part of the English language since the 15th century, comes from Greek, where it literally means “joining.” But even those who are unfamiliar with the word are likely well acquainted with the clever wordplay to which it refers—zeugma is a beloved device of lyricists, probably for the economy noted by Redfern. Notable examples come from Alanis Morissette (“You held your breath and the door for me”), Taylor Swift (“The wine is cold like the shoulder that I gave you”), and the Beatles (“Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name”).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 15, 2026 is: circumscribe • SER-kum-skrybe • verb To circumscribe something is to limit its range or activity. // The president's decision-making power was carefully circumscribed by the company's board. See the entry > Examples: “A mid-credits scene that shows Santos and Mel at a karaoke bar performing a duet ... might seem to be a throwaway. But it's more like a glimmer of a happy ending. By blowing off steam together, Mel is forming an independent identity and Santos is finding a healthy outlet for her anger. This could be the first step, for both of them, towards escaping a life circumscribed by work …” — Judy Berman, Time, 16 Apr. 2026 Did you know? To circumscribe something is to limit its range or activity, but there is no circumscribing the range of influence the Latin ancestors of circumscribe have had. Circumscribe comes via Middle English from the Latin verb circumscribere (which roughly translates as “to draw a circle around”), which in turn comes from circum-, meaning “circle,” and scribere, meaning “to write or draw.” Among the many descendants of circum- are circuit, circumference, circumnavigate, circumspect, circumstance, and circumvent. Scribere gave us such words as scribe and scribble, as well as ascribe, describe, and transcribe, among others.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 14, 2026 is: vacuous • VAK-yuh-wus • adjective Vacuous is a formal word indicating a lack of thought, intelligence, or substance. // Despite a lengthy advertising campaign pitching the film as a masterwork, critics ultimately assailed it as dull and filled with self-important characters spouting vacuous platitudes. See the entry > Examples: "Harper Lee was not slight, was not vacuous. To Kill a Mockingbird is an artefact of its time … but it had its place in moving the arc of history and still does." — Erica Wagner, The Observer (London), 18 Oct. 2025 Did you know? As you might have guessed, vacuous shares the same root as vacuum. Both come from the Latin adjective vacuus, meaning "empty." This root also gave us the noun vacuity (the oldest meaning of which is "an empty space") as well as the verb evacuate (originally meaning "to empty of contents"). Its predecessor, the verb vacāre, is also an ancestor of the words vacation, vacancy, and even void. All of these words suggest an emptiness of space, or else a fleeing of people or things from one place to another. Vacuous appeared in English in the middle of the 17th century, at first literally describing something that was empty. Centuries later it acquired its figurative usage, describing one who is lacking any substance of the mind.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 13, 2026 is: salvo • SAL-voh • noun In military contexts, salvo refers to various actions involving discharge or release of bombs, rockets, artillery, etc., as well to the bombs or projectiles released in such an action. In general use, salvo is usually used to refer to a strong or sudden verbal attack, but it can also refer to a sudden occurrence of applause, laughter, etc., from many people. // The troops were driven back by a salvo of cannon fire. // The editorial's opening salvo was a list of grievances against the mayor's policies. // The conclusion of her performance was answered with a salvo of cheers and applause. See the entry > Examples: “Nas dropped Illmatic, his unimpeachable opening salvo, when he was only 20, taking a haunted stroll through his Queensbridge adolescence on ‘Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park).' An undercurrent of nostalgia weaves throughout his 30-year discography.” — Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 8 Jan. 2026 Did you know? No opening salvo here: salvo in phrases like “an opening salvo” is a kind of attack, especially one that is strong or sudden. Usually, such salvos are verbal attacks, like a critical remark aimed at a debate opponent, or a pointed accusation at the start of an editorial. But salvo can also refer to attacks of a more perilous kind, including various martial actions involving bombs, rockets, and artillery. (It can also refer to the bombs or projectiles released in a salvo.) The word arrived from Italian in the late 16th century with a complex meaning: it referred to a simultaneous discharge of two or more guns, either in military action or as a salute. The word's ultimate source is the Latin word salve, meaning “hail!,” which was an ancient Roman greeting. In English, salvo is sometimes used for a sudden occurrence of applause, laughter, etc., from many people, which sounds to us like the best kind of all.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 12, 2026 is: gnomic • NOH-mik • adjective Gnomic is a formal word that describes something cryptically said or written in few words. // The painter is notorious for offering terse, gnomic responses to questions about her work that leave interviewers and critics scratching their heads. See the entry > Examples: “Indeed, the album that ‘Michelangelo Dying' reminds me of most is [Laurie] Anderson's seminal ‘Big Science,' from 1982. ... Both albums feature gnomic lyrical pronouncements. (‘Rigid, collapse,' [Cate] Le Bon chants on the track ‘About Time,' reminiscent of Anderson talk-singing, ‘Big Science, Hallelujah.')” — Rumaan Alam, The New Yorker, 26 Sept. 2025 Did you know? A gnome is an aphorism—that is, a short phrase that expresses a true or wise idea. Gnomes are sometimes couched in metaphorical or figurative language, they are often quite clever, and they are always concise. We borrowed the word gnome in the 16th century from the Greeks, who based their word gnōmē on the verb gignōskein, meaning “to know.” (The other gnome—referring to the dwarf of folklore—comes from New Latin and is unrelated to the aphoristic gnome.) We began using gnomic, the adjective form of gnome, in the late 18th century. It describes a style of writing, or sometimes speech, characterized by pithy phrases, which are often terse to the point of mysteriousness.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 11, 2026 is: baptism of fire • BAP-tiz-um-uv-FYRE • noun A baptism of fire (or baptism by fire, as it is sometimes referred to in the U.S.) is an introductory or initial experience that is a severe ordeal. In military contexts, baptism of fire specifically refers to a soldier's first exposure to enemy fire. // The newly recruited player faced a baptism of fire as the team went head to head with their greatest rival. See the entry > Examples: "It was my first day on the slopes, and in my naivety I had tackled Avoriaz's famous Boulevard des Skieurs after one three-hour lesson, before I could even really turn. At 36, this was a baptism of fire." — Jaymi McCann, The Week, 23 Jan. 2026 Did you know? The military sense of baptism of fire can be found in, among other texts, a 1907 history of a Massachusetts regiment in the Civil War: "That night we camped sixteen miles from Baton Rouge where we remained until the 21st, on which day we received our baptism of fire." Users of that sense, referring to a soldier's first exposure to enemy fire, as well those employing the more general sense of an especially difficult initiation, both allude (knowingly or unknowingly) to a Biblical passage: "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Matthew 3:11, RSV). The use of baptism of fire to refer to such a spiritual baptism dates to at least the early 1600s. Non-biblical, metaphorical use for any introductory or initial experience that is a severe ordeal arose in the mid-1850s.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 10, 2026 is: pedagogical • ped-uh-GAH-jih-kul • adjective Pedagogical is a formal word used to describe things that are of or related to teachers or education. // The new professor is known for particularly engaging pedagogical methods. See the entry > Examples: “It's a predictable part of every academic year at my institution: that time when we faculty are asked to submit course proposals and space requests. ... But the prosaic task of picking a classroom has hidden potential: It's a chance to manifest a new pedagogical vision; it's an instantiation of values in a time of profound change.” — Rachel Hastings, Inside Higher Ed, 4 June 2026 Did you know? Pedagogical was coined in the late 16th century from a Greek adjective of the same meaning. That adjective, paidagōgikos (“suitable for a teacher or trainer”), in turn comes from the noun paidagōgos, meaning “tutor.” The English word pedagogue (which can simply mean “teacher” but usually suggests one who is particularly pedantic or dull) comes from the same root. Although the words educational and teacher make the grade in most contexts, pedagogical and pedagogue are useful additions to the class.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 10, 2026 is: pedagogical • ped-uh-GAH-jih-kul • adjective Pedagogical is a formal word used to describe things that are of or related to teachers or education. // The new professor is known for particularly engaging pedagogical methods. See the entry > Examples: “It's a predictable part of every academic year at my institution: that time when we faculty are asked to submit course proposals and space requests. ... But the prosaic task of picking a classroom has hidden potential: It's a chance to manifest a new pedagogical vision; it's an instantiation of values in a time of profound change.” — Rachel Hastings, Inside Higher Ed, 4 June 2026 Did you know? Pedagogical was coined in the late 16th century from a Greek adjective of the same meaning. That adjective, paidagōgikos (“suitable for a teacher or trainer”), in turn comes from the noun paidagōgos, meaning “tutor.” The English word pedagogue (which can simply mean “teacher” but usually suggests one who is particularly pedantic or dull) comes from the same root. Although the words educational and teacher make the grade in most contexts, pedagogical and pedagogue are useful additions to the class.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 9, 2026 is: anecdote • AN-ik-doht • noun An anecdote is a short narrative about an interesting, funny, or biographical incident. // Dinner with our uncles means lots of anecdotes involving the mischief they got into as kids. See the entry > Examples: “Standing in front of a room of about 40 people … [NASCAR driver, Lavar] Scott told stories about his racing family. ‘One time, my grandmother raced my grandfather, and she flipped her Mustang,' said Scott. The anecdote was greeted with a chorus of laughs.” — Devin Jackson, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 June 2026 Did you know? The Byzantine historian Procopius wrote three historical works in Greek. In the first two, he dealt with wars and public works projects, but the third was different. Referred to as the Anekdota, from the Greek adjective anekdotos meaning “unpublished,” it contained bitter attacks on the emperor Justinian, his wife, and other notables of contemporary Constantinople. Understandably, it was not published until after Procopius's death. English speakers originally used an anglicized version of the book's name for similar secret or unpublished histories or biographies, but by the 17th century, the meaning of anecdote had been broadened to cover brief and interesting or amusing tales of events or incidents.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 8, 2026 is: nurture • NER-cher • verb Nurture is most often used to mean “to help someone or something grow, develop, or succeed.” It can also mean “to take care of someone or something that is growing or developing by providing food, protection, a place to live, etc.,” or “to hold something, such as an idea or strong feeling, in your mind for a long time.” // Art teachers nurture their students' creativity. // She nurtured a secret ambition to be a professional singer. See the entry > Examples: “Parks are good for people. They nurture community, even alongside busy roads and next to dense housing; especially there, in fact.” — Cheryl Fox, The Park Record (Park City, Utah), 3 July 2026 Did you know? When nurture was first adopted from Anglo-French into English in the 14th century, it referred, as it does in the phrase “nurture vs. nature,” to training or upbringing, i.e., to the care and attention given to someone or something that is growing or developing. It wasn't until a century later that the verb nurture settled into the language, first with meanings having to do with feeding and caring for young—meanings nourish had been, er, nurturing for a hundred years. The words come by their overlapping meanings etymologically: both come from the Latin verb nutrire, meaning “to suckle” or “to nourish.” The figurative use of nurture, meaning “to further the development of,” followed centuries later. Mary Wollstonecraft applied it in her 1792 book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, writing, “Public spirit must be nurtured by private virtue.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 7, 2026 is: invidious • in-VID-ee-us • adjective Invidious is a formal word used to describe things that are unpleasant and likely to cause bad feelings in other people. Such bad feelings may include resentment, discontent, animosity, or envy. // Psychologists caution against drawing invidious comparisons between other people's lives as portrayed on social media and one's own. See the entry > Examples: “The gap between romantic expectation and mundane reality, frankly, never ceases to amaze with this team. France, somehow, get better, on paper, with every tournament. Talent keeps coming through at a relentless, invidious rate.” — James Horncastle, The New York Times, 16 June 2026 Did you know? If invidious reminds you of the word insidious (“gradually or subtly causing harm”), you've got a nose for negativity—at least the lexical kind. It's not that using the word invidious will harm you gradually, but that both words, in addition to rhyming and coming from Latin, are all about bad vibes. The two are otherwise unrelated; insidious comes from Latin insidiae, “ambush,” while invidious is instead a relative of envy and comes from the verb invidēre, meaning “to look askance at” or “to envy.” The link between envy and invidious is largely invisible today, as invidious is typically applied to that which is unpleasant (such as “an invidious position”) or is likely to cause harm or resentment (“invidious comparisons,” “invidious discrimination”).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 6, 2026 is: torpor • TOR-per • noun Torpor is a formal word for a state of inactivity and sluggishness. It can also be used, especially in the context of hibernating and estivating animals, to refer to a state of lowered physiological activity. // The magazine offers lots of ideas for activities designed to shake off the torpor of a rainy day. See the entry > Examples: “Especially during migration in the spring and fall, bats can get tired. If they are caught in a cold snap, they can go into torpor, like a mini-hibernation, to help survive the cold period when there aren't insects available to eat for energy.” — Tara Hohoff, The Conversation, 28 May 2026 Did you know? Cheer up, sleepy Jean (or sleepy Gene)—we know what torpor can mean, and we're happy to share. Torpor can mean a few things, actually. Most commonly it refers to a state of mind and body characterized by inactivity and lack of energy, as on a torrid (no relation) summer day when one has little desire to do much more than lie around daydreaming. While people may be able to shake off torpor that sets in when the heat takes away the will to get things done, it's a bit harder for animals, for whom the word has a more technical meaning. An animal in torpor is in a state of lowered body temperature and metabolic activity, usually because of extreme heat or cold. The torpor can last a few hours or it can be months before the creature wipes the sleep out of its eyes.  Torpid, the related adjective (both torpid and torpor come from the Latin verb torpēre, meaning “to be sluggish or numb”) also has both technical and nontechnical applications, as in “torpid animals” or “a torpid economy.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 5, 2026 is: colloquial • kuh-LOH-kwee-ul • adjective Colloquial is used with words like term and word and expression to describe language that is used in familiar and informal conversation. // The author can switch from formal academic language to a charmingly colloquial style, depending on the audience and subject of her writing. See the entry > Examples: "The American woodcock is a native North American bird species found in Wisconsin and much of the eastern United States and Canada. Known by a host of colloquial names, including timberdoodle, ... bogsucker and mudsnipe, the species is about the size of the American robin ..." — Paul A. Smith, The Green Bay (Wisconsin) Press-Gazette , 1 May 2026 Did you know? The noun colloquy has since the 15th century referred to a conversation or dialogue, and when the adjective colloquial was formed in the mid-18th century it had a similar focus. (Both words trace back to the Latin verb colloquī, meaning "to converse.") Over time, however, colloquial developed a more specific meaning related to language that is most suited to informal conversation, and it ultimately garnered a secondary use for language that is so informal as to be inappropriate for a given situation. For instance, when writing an academic paper about Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, it would not serve to say that the crew of the Endurance was "in quite a pickle" when they became trapped in ice off the Caird coast. Although pickle does indeed mean "a difficult situation" in this context, its flavor—ahem—may be considered too colloquial, that is, "unacceptably informal," for academic use.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 4, 2026 is: élan • ay-LAHN • noun Élan refers to energy and enthusiasm. // The dancers performed with great style and élan; we were exhausted just watching them. See the entry > Examples: "Carrying the production with the élan of a cheerful college quarterback, [Luke] Brady is an immediately likable leading man ..." — Matt Wolf, The New York Times, 25 June 2025 Did you know? Once upon a time, back in the early 18th century, English speakers did not have élan (the word, that is; we have always had the potential for vigorous spirit). We had, however, the verb elance, meaning "to throw," which was used for the launching of darts, javelins, and similar weaponry. Elance came from the Middle French (s')eslancer, meaning "to rush" (that is, "to hurl oneself forth"). Elance enjoyed only a short flight in English, falling into disuse by the mid-19th century, around which time English speakers picked up élan, another French word that traces back, via the Middle French noun eslan ("rush"), to (s')eslancer. We copied élan in form from the French, but we dispensed with the French sense of a literal "rush" or "dash," retaining the sense of enthusiastic animation that we sometimes also characterize as dash, spunk, or vim.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 3, 2026 is: mitigate • MIT-uh-gayt • verb To mitigate something is to make it less severe, harmful, or painful. // One way we can mitigate the impact the construction project will have on residents is to commit to completing it in the allotted time. See the entry > Examples: “The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued an emergency order to mitigate blackouts in the Carolinas as the region prepares for a period of hot weather coming up.” — Dave Kovaleski, Daily Energy Insider, 15 June 2026 Did you know? The meaning of mitigate is straightforward enough: to make something—such as a problem, symptom, or punishment—less harsh or severe. Sometimes, however, mitigate appears where the similar-looking militate is expected. That word, which is often followed by against, means “to have weight or effect,” as in “your unexcused absences are likely to militate against your getting a promotion.” The two words are not closely related (mitigate comes from the Latin verb mitigare, meaning “to soften,” whereas militate traces to militare, meaning “to engage in warfare”), but confusion between the two has existed for long enough that some language experts accept “mitigate against” as an idiomatic alternative to militate. Even William Faulkner used mitigate in this way in his 1932 short story, Centaur in Brass, writing “It's as though there were some intangible and invisible social force that mitigates against him.” But unless you're Faulkner, it's best to keep mitigate and militate distinct.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 2, 2026 is: highfalutin • hye-fuh-LOO-tun • adjective Something or someone described as highfalutin seems, or is trying to seem, great or important. // The authors' research may have been impressive, but their paper was full of highfalutin jargon that ultimately obscured what they intended to say. See the entry > Examples: “Standing 787 feet tall, the tower was one of the last of the era—when downtown Dallas' skyline was defined by highfalutin oil execs, bankers, financiers and the architects who used steel, concrete and glass to erect opulent monuments to their economic success.” — Nick Wooten, The Dallas Morning News, 9 Jan. 2026 Did you know? Highfalutin has a fine purpose: to describe pretentious people or language without making the person using it sound, well, pretentious. Were you to describe the high-flown speech of another using other adjectives available to you (grandiloquent, fustian, orotund) you might well be found guilty of the faux pas yourself. Highfalutin first appeared as American slang in the early 1800s, and like many slang terms it has had a lot of different spellings (hi, high faluting). The word most likely originated as a combination of the adjective high (as used in the phrase “high and mighty”) and the participle fluting. Why fluting? Maybe down-to-earth Americans thought that the overly formal, condescending, and flowery speech of the high and mighty sounded like the shrill and biting high tones of a flute. Whatever the reasoning, highfalutin has remained a staple of down-home American speech ever since.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 1, 2026 is: spindrift • SPIN-drift • noun Spindrift refers to spray blown from waves during a gale or to fine wind-borne snow or sand. // Our whale-watching cruise was a whirlwind of flukes, fins, and clinging to the handrails amid the waves and salty blasts of spindrift. See the entry > Examples: “White-capped waves crash far below the cliffs and sweep out to the horizon, spindrift tosses up mini-rainbows and creamy plumes of sea froth float up and over.” — Amanda Thomson, The Guardian (London), 5 Sept. 2024 Did you know? Spindrift first set sail in English in the early 19th century, under Scottish command. The Scots had by that point been using speendrift for well over a century; their verb speen means “to rush forcefully along with a strong wind,” so speendrift referred to a drift of salty sea spray during such sailing. In the 1820s, English speakers recruited the word, but signed it up as spindrift. At that time, its sole duty was to refer to the driving sprays at sea. By the mid-20th century, English speakers realized that spindrift had potential to serve on land as well, and the word was sent ashore to be used for wind-borne snow and sand. Today, spindrift still serves the language commendably by land and by sea.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 31, 2026 is: comely • KUM-lee • adjective Comely is an adjective with an old-fashioned and literary feel that describes someone or something that has a pleasing appearance, or that is pretty or attractive. // The newlyweds make quite a comely couple. See the entry > Examples: "One of the first things I noticed when I moved to Berlin 10 years ago was something odd about the pigeons here: Some of them were pretty, far comelier than Manhattan pigeons ..." — Ben Crair, The New York Times, 29 June 2026 Did you know? Comely—especially when compared to its more common synonyms, including lovely, handsome, and beautiful—has an old-fashioned flair. These days it is used especially by writers of historical fantasy to modify words referring to women, such as maiden and damsel, that also suggest real or imagined days of castles and courts. But comely need not be restricted to such uses, and indeed, it historically was not. Its oldest meaning in English, from the 14th century and still used today, describes things that conform, pleasurably, to notions of good appearance, suitability, or proportion, as when Willa Cather wrote that "they observed that all was neat and comely …" Comely is not etymologically related to the familiar verb come that also forms part of the word come-hither, as in "come-hither glances." It instead traces back to the Old English word cȳmlic, meaning "glorious," which in turn comes from cȳme, meaning "lively" or "fine."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 30, 2026 is: sultry • SULL-tree • adjective Sultry means “very hot and humid” when it describes such things as seasons, days, and weather. When it describes things humans do and possess—voices, poses, looks, and the like—it means “exciting or capable of exciting strong sexual desire.” // The restaurant's rooftop deck is the place to be on sultry summer nights. See the entry > Examples: “It's a sultry morning in the Maldives and the mechanic is sweating as he tinkers with the sparkling La Marzocco espresso machine. All the while, hopeful guests watch, desperate for a morning hit.” — Belinda Jackson, The Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald, 15 Nov. 2025 Did you know? Sultry days and glances both burn hot—one literally, and the other figuratively. Sultry is a late 16th century alteration of the obsolete word sulter, itself an alteration of swelter, which since the 14th century has meant “to suffer, sweat, or be faint from heat” and “to become exceedingly hot.” Sweltering on a sultry day may also bring the word muggy to mind; that word comes from an English dialectical word, mug, meaning “drizzle.” Unlike muggy and swelter, sultry, as we said, applies to both literal and figurative heat, as when a singer's sultry voice brings a figuratively hot vibe.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 29, 2026 is: inveigle • in-VAY-gul • verb To inveigle someone is to persuade them in a clever or deceptive way to do something. Inveigle can also mean “to get something in a clever or deceptive way.” // According to rumors, the company inveigled employees into signing the agreement. // Their attempts to inveigle the information from her were, eventually, fruitful. See the entry > Examples: “... his wayward cousin Freddie constantly inveigles him into more serious mischief.” — Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 22 June 2026 Did you know? It's true that you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you might find you can inveigle someone else into getting it for you. Inveigle, a word that dates from the 16th century, is used in situations where someone uses clever talk, trickery, or flattery either to persuade somebody to do something or to obtain something. If you have the morning munchies, for example, but get no satisfaction from cold cereal, you might inveigle a bagel (by complimenting a barista, say) or inveigle a barista into giving you a bagel. Failed to plan thoroughly for your camping trip? It's not inveigling to demand “gimme shelter” or “you gotta move” to someone with a tent you'd like to steal like a thief in the night: inveigling involves subtle acts of persuasion and sometimes outright trickery. The distinction makes sense given that inveigle comes from the Anglo-French verb enveegler, meaning “to hoodwink” (its ultimate source is the Medieval Latin ab oculis, literally, “lacking eyes”). Isn't etymology a gas, gas, gas?

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 28, 2026 is: kludge • KLOOJ • noun A kludge is a haphazard or makeshift solution to a problem and especially to a computer or programming problem. // Andy knocked out a hasty kludge to circumvent the glitch until a more robust solution could be developed. See the entry > Examples: “The advent of television in the 1940s allowed the movie industry to reconsider frame rates. Unfortunately, primitive video technology limited dramatic improvements. ... While the frame rate exceeded cinema, the resolution (how much information each frame actually contained) paled in comparison to 35-mm film. Even worse, the kludge enabling color broadcasting further degraded video quality.” — Rich Warren, The News-Gazette (Champaign, Illinois), 13 Apr. 2025 Did you know? As long as the origins of kludge (also spelled kluge) are uncertain, any attempt to pin them down will itself be a bit of a kludge—that is, a makeshift solution. The writer Jackson W. Granholm, once thought to have coined the word, offered his own when he wrote in his 1962 article “How to design a kludge” that it came from the German word klug, meaning “smart” or “witty.” This connection is unlikely on both phonetic and semantic grounds, however, and in any event the word already existed. A decade earlier, in an article recounting military folklore acquired from ex-soldiers, Agnes Nolan Underwood related a shaggy-dog story about a sailor named Murgatroyd whose civilian occupation is “kluge maker.” The meaning of kluge is withheld till the end of the tale, when the object made by Murgatroyd turns out to be “the damnedest looking little thing you ever saw—wires and springs sticking out in every direction.” Murgatroyd then accidentally drops the object: “the kluge slipped out and went overboard, down into the ocean, and went ‘kkluuge'.” This suggests a possible onomatopoeic origin for kludge/kluge (we note that the kluge spelling better reflects its pronunciation; the word rhymes with huge, not fudge), but again, nothing in this life is certain but death and taxes, and these days also computer malfunctions.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 27, 2026 is: parochial • puh-ROH-kee-ul • adjective Parochial is a formal word that is usually used in a disapproving way to describe something that is limited in range or scope, as to a narrow region or area. // For some, college can be an expansive experience that lifts them out of a parochial mindset. See the entry > Examples: “The twenty-first century American university is one of the great achievements of modern civilization and the destruction of the relationship between higher education, the federal government, and the business community would set America back to a parochial era that we left a long time ago.” — Peter Balakian, Literary Hub, 9 July 2025 Did you know? While it's far from a given that small towns foster narrow-mindedness, the limited range of opportunities and experiences in such places when compared to those of bigger burgs is at the heart of the figurative sense of parochial. In Late Latin, parochia was the designation for a group of Christians in a given area under the leadership of one pastor—what came to be known in English as a parish in the 14th century. Both parish and its related adjective parochial were borrowed at that time directly from Anglo-French terms that came from parochia. It wasn't until the mid-1800s that parochial expanded beyond the borders of its literal sense to describe attitudes, beliefs, mentalities, outlooks, etc., considered limited or narrow, confined or restricted, as if within a single parish.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 26, 2026 is: aerie • AIR-ee • noun Aerie refers to the nest of a bird (such as an eagle or hawk) built high up on a cliff or on the top of a mountain. It can also be used for a room or building built high up so that people inside can see things happening below them. // From the lighthouse's aerie tourists can get a bird's-eye view of the rocky coastline. See the entry > Examples: “Their eaglet is expected to hatch around April 21. In the meantime, audience members tuning in will likely see at least one eagle at the nest. To keep up with home improvements, the majestic birds often arrive home bearing sticks and grass to add to their aerie.” — Mary Ann Lickteig, Seven Days (Burlington, Vermont), 8 Apr. 2026 Did you know? English poet John Milton put a variant of aerie to good use in Paradise Lost (1667), writing, “… there the eagle and the stork / On cliffs and cedar tops their eyries build.” But Milton wasn't the first to use the term, which comes to us via Medieval Latin and Old French and probably traces to an earlier Latin word, ager, meaning “field.” English speakers had been employing aerie as a word for a bird's nest for more than a century when he penned those words. Eventually, aerie was applied to human dwellings as well as birds' nests. At first, this sense referred to dwellings nestled high up in mountains or hills. These days, you're also likely to hear high-rise city apartments or offices referred to as “aeries.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 25, 2026 is: vituperate • vye-TOO-puh-rayt • verb To vituperate someone is to criticize or censure them severely or abusively. Vituperate can also mean "to use harsh condemnatory language." // They were vituperated for betraying their friends. See the entry > Examples: "On the world stage where Britain's royal family have traditionally been in the vanguard promoting our nation's brand, the Duke and Duchess remain hugely relevant. Old codgers vituperate and hate on them for their lucrative Instagram vibes, but out there in the global ether Haz and Megs still matter ..." — Tessa Dunlop, The i Paper (United Kingdom), 24 Mar. 2026 Did you know? There would seem to be as many English words and phrases for reading someone the riot act as there are justifications for doing so, from chew out, bawl out, and ream out, to dress down and tongue-lash. Vituperate, unlike this sample litany, is decidedly formal. This isn't to say that one needs must wear a top hat or pince-nez to vituperate or be vituperated, only that the word vituperate (which traces in part back to the Latin word vitium, meaning "fault") tends to appear in the types of publications that also use constructions like "needs must" and words like pince-nez.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 24, 2026 is: itinerant • eye-TIN-uh-runt • adjective Itinerant describes someone who travels from place to place or only stays in a place for a short amount of time. It is used especially for people who travel in a circuit for their profession. // Being an itinerant musician gave her the opportunity to see the wonders of the world with her own eyes. See the entry > Examples: “‘There has long been this masculine idea that a lone, itinerant male blues singer, travelling the South with a guitar slung over his back, was the authentic representation of the blues,' she [Dr. Cookie Woolner] explains, ‘while female performers like [Ma] Rainey, who drew from vaudeville and blackface minstrelsy, were commercial entertainers and not artists.'” — Deborah Nicholls-Lee, BBC, 5 June 2025 Did you know? Many a song in popular music has been penned about the itinerant lifestyle of touring, ranging from the exuberant (“Travelin' Band” by Creedence Clearwater Revival) to the exhausted (“Lodi” by, er, Creedence Clearwater Revival). All journeys have their highs and lows, of course, and the word itinerant is all about the journey, not the destination. Indeed, itinerant comes from the Late Latin verb itinerari, meaning “to journey,” which in turn traipsed down the etymological trail from the noun iter meaning “way” or “journey.” Itinerant is usually encountered as an adjective used to describe traveling types, especially those—like touring musicians—whose itineraries (to use another iter descendent) are often circuits, but it can also be used as a noun. Itinerants, musical or otherwise, are those who never stay in one place for long, who whether by choice, profession, or circumstance, keep on chooglin'.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 23, 2026 is: maverick • MAV-rik • noun Maverick refers to a person who refuses to follow the customs or rules of a group; in other words, a nonconformist. // Ayo has always been a bit of a maverick in the fashion world, inventing new trends rather than following them. See the entry > Examples: “[Luis] Alvarez has been described as a scientific Indiana Jones, but his reputation as a maverick was built on a foundation of patience and discipline.” — Alec Nevala-Lee, Collisions: A Physicist's Journey from Hiroshima to the Death of the Dinosaurs, 2025 Did you know? When a client gave Samuel A. Maverick 400 cattle to settle a $1,200 debt, the 19th-century south Texas lawyer had no use for them, so he left the cattle unbranded and allowed them to roam freely (supposedly under the supervision of one of his employees). Neighboring stockmen recognized their opportunity and seized it, branding and herding the stray cattle as their own. Maverick eventually recognized the folly of the situation and sold what was left of his depleted herd, but not before his name became synonymous with such unbranded livestock. By the end of the 19th century, the term maverick was being used to refer to individuals who prefer, like cattle left to their own devices, to blaze their own trails.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 22, 2026 is: stalwart • STAWL-wert • adjective Stalwart is a formal word used to describe someone or something that is very loyal and dedicated or that is physically or mentally strong. // He was a stalwart civil rights supporter throughout his political career. // The football team's stalwart defense only gave up a single field goal in the second half. See the entry > Examples: "Arbour is a stalwart defender of women's rights, having witnessed the struggle for equality during Quebec's Quiet Revolution." — Allison Hanes, The Montreal Gazette, 6 May 2026 Did you know? Stalwart is a word with ancient roots that has lent its stalwart service to the English language for centuries. Coming, via Middle English, from the Old English word stǣlwierthe, meaning "serviceable," stalwart describes people or things that are marked by outstanding strength and vigor of body, mind, or spirit, as revealed by traits such as loyalty and steadfastness, capability and dependability, or physical robustness. Old oak trees, for example, have long been described as stalwart for their imposing stature and endurance. A baseball team's closing pitcher may be deemed stalwart by showing mental fortitude in consistently striking out opposing batters in high-pressure situations. And a stalwart lover is one who, through thick and thin, is never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and hurt you.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 22, 2026 is: stalwart • STAWL-wert • adjective Stalwart is a formal word used to describe someone or something that is very loyal and dedicated or that is physically or mentally strong. // He was a stalwart civil rights supporter throughout his political career. // The football team's stalwart defense only gave up a single field goal in the second half. See the entry > Examples: "Arbour is a stalwart defender of women's rights, having witnessed the struggle for equality during Quebec's Quiet Revolution." — Allison Hanes, The Montreal Gazette, 6 May 2026 Did you know? Stalwart is a word with ancient roots that has lent its stalwart service to the English language for centuries. Coming, via Middle English, from the Old English word stǣlwierthe, meaning "serviceable," stalwart describes people or things that are marked by outstanding strength and vigor of body, mind, or spirit, as revealed by traits such as loyalty and steadfastness, capability and dependability, or physical robustness. Old oak trees, for example, have long been described as stalwart for their imposing stature and endurance. A baseball team's closing pitcher may be deemed stalwart by showing mental fortitude in consistently striking out opposing batters in high-pressure situations. And a stalwart lover is one who, through thick and thin, is never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and hurt you.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 21, 2026 is: dog days • DAWG-DAYZ • plural noun Dog days is a plural noun that refers to the hottest time of the year, which in the northern hemisphere is usually between early July and early September. Dog days can also refer to a period of stagnation or inactivity suggestive of hot, sultry weather when it can be difficult to summon the energy required for hard work. // Spending the day at a swimming hole has always been the perfect relief for the dog days of summer. See the entry > Examples: “When the dog days of summer were at their fullest, my new friends and I often played scrub baseball at Cameron Street School. We also rode our bicycles all over the south end.” — Gary Baldwin, The Peterborough (Ontario) Examiner, 19 July 2025 Did you know? Idle hands may be the devil's workshop, but let's be serious: when it's stiflingly hot outside, who among us isn't tempted to shirk work to go lie doggo in the shade somewhere? Such is the desire of many a creature—not just dogs (or lexicographers)—during the dog days of summer. If you're curious about how dogs got singled out in this expression, we might say it was in the stars. The dog in dog days is the Dog Star, aka Sirius, the star that represents the hound of the hunter Orion in the eponymous constellation. The star has long been associated with sultry weather in the northern hemisphere because it rises simultaneously with the sun during the hottest days of summer.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 20, 2026 is: raffish • RAF-ish • adjective Raffish describes people and things that show a careless but usually attractive unconventionality. // She didn't expect to like him but his raffish charm quickly won her over. See the entry > Examples: "Three or four decades ago, the newspaperman was appealingly raffish—at once a bum who drank too much and a knight-errant who charged unafraid at social injustice, succored the weak, and crossed lances with the powerful and arrogant." — David Wingrave, Harper's Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Raffish combines the English noun raff with the suffix -ish, which in this case means "characteristic of": when we use the word raffish, we literally mean "resembling raff." But what exactly is raff? You might be more familiar with raff's synonym, riffraff, which refers to disreputable people of low social status. Despite the resemblance, these two nouns are distinct in origin. Raff comes directly from the Middle English raf, meaning "rubbish," while riffraff descends from the Anglo-French rif e raf, meaning "altogether." The similarities between raff and riffraff prompted people to start using the two words as synonyms, and raff gained a "rabble" sense. It was that ragtag raff that gave rise to the adjective raffish in the late 1700s.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 19, 2026 is: accentuate • ak-SEN-shu-wayt • verb To accentuate something is to make it more noticeable. // He likes to wear clothes that accentuate his muscular build. See the entry > Examples: “My mother could make me anything I wanted to be. As a child she transformed me into a swan, a mermaid, a white Persian cat dressed like an elegant Victorian lady with a porkpie hat and a ruffled bustle to accentuate my tail. She'd trained as a costume designer.” — Perdita Finn, Mothers of Magic: Summoning the Wisdom of Our Ancestors, 2026 Did you know? When you accentuate something you put an “accent,” or emphasis, on it. Stress not about the word's history; its journey into the English language was very straightforward. It comes from the Latin accentus, meaning “accent” (which itself comes in part from cantus, meaning “song”), and since the early 18th century, its meanings haven't changed much. The word was initially used as a synonym of the verb accent to mean “to pronounce with greater stress or force,” which is a small leap from today's meaning of “to make something more noticeable; to emphasize.” One excellent way to remember not only how to pronounce accentuate but also its etymological connection to song is the classic (and helpfully titled) tune “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,” by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, which has been performed by such luminaries as Dinah Washington, Sam Cooke, and Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 18, 2026 is: quid pro quo • kwid-proh-KWOH • noun Quid pro quo refers to something that is given to you or done for you in return for something you have given to or done for someone else. // If they do us this favor, they'll expect a quid pro quo. See the entry > Examples: “For each proposal, it's almost guaranteed you'll have to negotiate with at least one faction, which usually involves some kind of quid pro quo. Maybe you agree to pass a policy they want next, or to advance research on a new technology of their choice.” — Deven McClure, Polygon, 24 Jan. 2026 Did you know? In the 1500s, a quid pro quo was something obtained from an apothecary. That's because when quid pro quo (New Latin for “something for something”) was first used as a phrase in English it appeared especially in situations where one medicine was substituted for another—whether intentionally (and sometimes fraudulently) or accidentally. The meaning of the phrase was quickly extended, however, and within several decades it was being used for more general equivalent exchanges, and as a noun for the act of substituting, or the substituted thing itself. By the mid-1600s the noun could be used for a bargain made between two parties involving the giving of one thing in return for another, e.g. “I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine.” Although such bargains are not inherently illegal, this sense of quid pro quo often appears today in legal contexts where the giving and taking is less than completely lawful.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 17, 2026 is: obdurate • AHB-duh-rut • adjective Obdurate is a formal word that means "resistant to persuasion." It is usually used to describe someone who is not willing to change their methods or opinions, or something that is not easily altered. // Though obdurate problems loom, the organization under its new leadership is poised to make real and effective changes. See the entry > Examples: "... even great careers must end sometime, and as often as not against obdurate wills." — Greg Baum, The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 Dec. 2025 Did you know? When trying to persuade someone who has an obdurate disposition, you may end up feeling rather dour about your ability to change their mind. To endure such encounters in the future, you may find that you need to be more durable and not let the person's mulishness get you down. Maybe you will find such situations less stressful if you can face them knowing that the words obdurate, dour, endure, and durable are etymological kissing cousins. All trace back to the Latin adjective durus, which means "hard."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 16, 2026 is: bibelot • BEE-buh-loh • noun A bibelot is a small household ornament or decorative object. // His grandfather set up a table every week at the flea market where he sold all sorts of bibelots and bric-a-brac, from ceramic figurines to tiny blown glass sculptures. See the entry > Examples: “One by one, the beads and baubles and charms and bibelots have been cleaned and polished and now they are being placed on shelves, in jars and containers, in bins, and in a bathtub in Beadniks' new store on Main Street.” — Bob Audette, The Brattleboro (Vermont) Reformer, 21 June 2025 Did you know? The English language, it would seem, can't get enough of synonyms for trinket, including gewgaw, gimcrack, and knickknack, just as lovers of tchotchkes can't get enough of such ornamental trifles. Lady Charlotte Guest (1812-1895) was just such a lover of baubles and bric-a-brac. Not only was Guest an accomplished linguist, educator, publisher, and philanthropist, she also amassed collections of everything from porcelain to playing cards, which she ultimately donated to museums. We also have Guest to thank for the first known use in English of the French word for “trinket,” bibelot, which she recorded in a journal entry in 1873 while in Paris: “After 3, walked up to Lady Hopetoun's to amuse her with some of our little bibelots.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 15, 2026 is: loquacious • loh-KWAY-shus • adjective Loquacious means “liking to talk and talking smoothly and easily.” Someone described as loquacious might also be called wordy (prone to using more words than necessary) or garrulous (tending to talk a lot). // We were entertained all afternoon by our host's loquacious parrot and its nonstop script of favored phrases. See the entry > Examples: “Due to their loquacious nature, marmosets have recently become a focus of studies on the evolutionary origin of human speech and language.” — Tobias Kahland et al., Nature Communications, 28 Mar. 2026 Did you know? Loquacious undeniably has a poetic ring to it. It's been a favorite of the writerly sort since it made its first appearance in English in the 17th century and, with poetic license, writers stretched its meaning beyond “talkative,” and especially “excessively talkative,” to describe such things as the chattering of birds and the babbling of brooks. The ultimate source of all this chattiness is loquī, a Latin verb meaning “to talk, speak.” Other words descended from loquī include colloquial, eloquent, soliloquy, and ventriloquism.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 14, 2026 is: yaw • YAW • verb The verb yaw when used for the action of a ship, aircraft, spacecraft, or projectile means "to move to the left or right especially in an uncontrolled manner." More broadly, yaw is used as a synonym of alternate to mean "to change from one to another repeatedly." // The rogue wave hit the vessel, and the ship yawed hard to the right. // The album yaws from soulful ballad to up-tempo pop hit and back again. See the entry > Examples: "The out-of-control motion radiated down to the spacecraft itself, which began yawing and pitching in response to the force." — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 11 Nov. 2025 Did you know? In the heyday of large sailing ships, numerous nautical words appeared on the horizon. Yaw is one such word. Its origin isn't exactly known, but it began turning up in print in the 16th century, first as a noun meaning "movement off course" or "side to side movement," and then as a verb. For centuries, it remained a sailing word—often alongside pitch ("to have the front end rise and fall")—with occasional extended use as a synonym of the verb alternate. When the era of airplane flight dawned, much of the vocabulary of sailing found new life in aeronautics, and "yawing" was no longer confined to the sea. Nowadays yaw, pitch, and roll are just as likely to be used by pilots and rocket scientists to describe the motion of their crafts.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 13, 2026 is: implacable • im-PLAK-uh-bul • adjective Someone or something described as implacable is not capable of being appeased or changed. // The project faced implacable resistance from community members, and is now off the table. See the entry > Examples: “Unlike, say, the globetrotting stories of Ian Fleming or John le Carré, in which victories only temporarily frustrate an implacable foe, [Agatha] Christie's smaller worlds feel put right when the cover closes or credits roll.” — The Economist, 17 Jan. 2026 Did you know? Implacable is rooted in the Latin verb placare, meaning “to soothe,” but its im- prefix is a variant of the negating prefix in- (as in inactive) and it signals that there's nothing warm and fuzzy here. Someone or something described as implacable cannot be soothed, which usually means trouble: implacable is most often attached to words like foe, enemy, hatred and hostility. The opposite of implacable is, of course, placable; it means “easily soothed,” but sadly isn't called upon very often. Another placare word is likely more familiar. Placate means “to soothe or appease”; it's frequently applied when an angry person is made to feel less so.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 13, 2026 is: implacable • im-PLAK-uh-bul • adjective Someone or something described as implacable is not capable of being appeased or changed. // The project faced implacable resistance from community members, and is now off the table. See the entry > Examples: “Unlike, say, the globetrotting stories of Ian Fleming or John le Carré, in which victories only temporarily frustrate an implacable foe, [Agatha] Christie's smaller worlds feel put right when the cover closes or credits roll.” — The Economist, 17 Jan. 2026 Did you know? Implacable is rooted in the Latin verb placare, meaning “to soothe,” but its im- prefix is a variant of the negating prefix in- (as in inactive) and it signals that there's nothing warm and fuzzy here. Someone or something described as implacable cannot be soothed, which usually means trouble: implacable is most often attached to words like foe, enemy, hatred and hostility. The opposite of implacable is, of course, placable; it means “easily soothed,” but sadly isn't called upon very often. Another placare word is likely more familiar. Placate means “to soothe or appease”; it's frequently applied when an angry person is made to feel less so.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 12, 2026 is: fulcrum • FULL-krum • noun In technical use, fulcrum refers to the support on which a lever moves when it is used to lift something. In figurative use, fulcrum refers to a person or thing that makes it possible for something to function or develop, or in other words, one who plays an essential role in something. // Although the lead actor was phenomenal, critics suggested that the supporting cast was the real fulcrum of the show. See the entry > Examples: “The moral fulcrum of Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, in which a scholar gains knowledge and power through a demonic pact, is a relatively straightforward statement on the human condition.” — Eric Olson, Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026 Did you know? The Latin word fulcrum, which refers to the head or back support of a couch, comes from the verb fulcīre, which means “to prop, support.” When fulcrum was first used in English in the 17th century, it referred to the point on which a lever or similar device (such as the oar of a boat) is supported. The literal use easily supported figurative use, and it didn't take long for the word to develop a meaning referring to one deemed essential to the function or development of something. Despite fulcrum's multiple senses, the word's meanings have kept a steady theme. In zoology, fulcrum refers to a part of an animal that serves as a hinge or support, such as the joint supporting a bird's wing.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 11, 2026 is: xeric • ZEER-ik • adjective Xeric means "characterized by, relating to, or requiring only a small amount of moisture." // She is a botanist who primarily studies xeric plants. See the entry > Examples: "Thoughtfully designed xeric, or low-water, landscapes can be dynamic, layered and full of color. Native plants and those adapted to the Intermountain West ... provide habitat and food for pollinators and birds while needing a fraction of the water that bluegrass demands." — Pula Davis and Scott Curry, The Colorado Springs Gazette, 16 May 2026 Did you know? Few English words begin with the letter X, but of those that do, a number come from the Greek xēros, meaning "dry." Around the turn of the 20th century, botanists were using the terms xerophyte and xerophytic for plants that were well adapted to survive without much water. But when seeking a more generic word that included both animals and plants, they came up, ahem, dry. In a 1926 issue of Ecology, specialists proposed using xeric as a more generalized term for either flora or fauna. They further suggested that xerophytic, among other terms, "be entirely abandoned as useless and misleading." Not everyone liked the idea. In fact, the Ecological Society of America stated that xeric was "not desirable," preferring terms such as arid. Others declared that the word should refer only to habitats, not to organisms. Enough scientists used it anyway, however, that by the 1940s xeric was well documented in scientific literature.