Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Build your vocabulary with Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day! Each day a Merriam-Webster editor offers insight into a fascinating new word -- explaining its meaning, current use, and little-known details about its origin.

Episodes

  1. 16 HR AGO

    negotiate

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 23, 2024 is: negotiate \nih-GOH-shee-ayt\ verb To negotiate is to discuss something formally in order to make an agreement. Negotiate can also mean, when applied to people or things in motion, "to get through, around, or over successfully." // The [parties](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-origin-of-party-individuals-groups) negotiated an agreement. // The trail is designed for an experienced skier who can negotiate unpredictable terrain. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/negotiate) Examples: "Once in relationships, millennials are keen to protect their personal interests—a change reflected in their embrace of prenuptial agreements, the unprecedentedly high rates at which they maintain separate bank accounts, and even in the way they negotiate domestic affairs and disputes." — Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman, What Are Children For?: On Ambivalence and Choice, 2024 Did you know? Negotiate found its way into the English language from the Latin verb negōtiārī, meaning "to do business, trade, or deal." Since its arrival, this word has developed a variety of applications. The "doing business" sense is still going strong: in addition to its most common use in situations where formal decisions (such as a price to be paid) are made by way of discussion, negotiate is also used to talk about the transfer or conversion of money, as in the phrase "negotiate a check." Negotiate has applications outside of commerce, too; it is sometimes used to mean "to successfully travel along or over," as when a cyclist is said to "negotiate mountainous terrain."

    2 min

  2. 1 DAY AGO

    paroxysm

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 22, 2024 is: paroxysm \PAIR-uk-sih-zum\ noun Paroxysm is a formal word that refers to a sudden strong feeling or uncontrollable expression of emotion. In medical use, paroxysm refers to a sudden attack or increase of symptoms of a disease that often occurs repeatedly. // The comedy special sent us into paroxysms of laughter. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paroxysm) Examples: "[Danny] Ray was part of [James] Brown's cape routine for 45 years, assisting him on the song 'Please, Please, Please.' The Godfather of Soul would collapse in a paroxysm of feigned grief during the song, being led away by a [solicitous](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/solicitous) Ray, who draped the singer in a cape. Brown would take a few steps, then return to the microphone. Sometimes, they [eschewed](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eschew) the cape, and Brown was merely led away." — Bruce Haring, Deadline, 3 Feb. 2021 Did you know? Paroxysm didn't just burst onto the scene recently; its roots go back to ancient Greek. The word ultimately erupted from the Greek verb paroxynein, which means "to stimulate." (Oxynein, a parent of paroxynein, means "to provoke" and comes from oxys, a Greek word for "sharp.") In its earliest known English uses in the 15th century, paroxysm referred to a sudden attack or increase of symptoms of a disease—such as pain, coughing, shaking, etc.—that often occur again and again. This sense is still in use, but paroxysm soon took on a broader and now much more common sense referring to an outburst, especially a dramatic physical or emotional one, as in "paroxysms of rage/laughter/joy/delight/guilt."

    2 min

  3. 2 DAYS AGO

    tenacious

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 21, 2024 is: tenacious \tuh-NAY-shus\ adjective Something described as tenacious cannot easily be stopped or pulled apart; in other words, it is firm or strong. Tenacious can also describe something—such as a myth—that continues or persists for a long time, or someone who is determined to do something. // Caleb was surprised by the crab’s tenacious grip. // Once Linda has decided on a course of action, she can be very tenacious when it comes to seeing it through. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenacious) Examples: "I put up a nesting box three years ago and nailed it to an oak tree. Beth and Fiona told me the next box location was ideal: seven feet up, out of view of walkways, and within three feet of the lower branches of a tenacious old fuchsia tree." — Amy Tan, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, 2024 Did you know? For the more than 400 years that tenacious has been a part of the English language, it has adhered closely to its Latin antecedent: tenāx, an adjective meaning "holding fast," "clinging," or "persistent." Almost from the first, tenacious could suggest either literal adhesion or figurative [stick-to-itiveness](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stick-to-itiveness). [Sandburs](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sandbur) are tenacious, and so are athletes who don't let defeat get them down. We use tenacious of a good memory, too—one that has a better than average capacity to hold information. But you can also have too much of a good thing: the addition in Latin of the prefix per- ("thoroughly") to tenāx led to the English word [pertinacious](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pertinacious), meaning "perversely persistent." You might use pertinacious for the likes of rumors and spam calls, for example.

    2 min

  4. 3 DAYS AGO

    snivel

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 20, 2024 is: snivel \SNIV-ul\ verb To snivel is to speak or act in a whining, sniffling, tearful, or weakly emotional manner. The word snivel may also be used to mean "to run at the nose," "to [snuffle](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snuffle)," or "to cry or whine with snuffling." // She was unmoved by the millionaires sniveling about their financial problems. // My partner sniveled into the phone, describing the frustrations of the day. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snivel) Examples: "At first, he ran a highway stop with video gambling. 'To sit and do nothing for 10 to 12 hours drove me nuts,' he [Frank Nicolette] said. That's when he found art. 'I started making little faces, and they were selling so fast, I'll put pants and shirts on these guys,' he said, referring to his hand-carved sculptures. 'Then (people) whined and sniveled and wanted bears, and so I started carving some bears.'" — Benjamin Simon, The Post & Courier (Charleston, South Carolina), 5 Oct. 2024 Did you know? There's never been anything pretty about sniveling. [Snivel](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snivel), which originally meant simply "to have a runny nose," has an Old English ancestor whose probable form was snyflan. Its lineage includes some other charming words of yore: an Old English word for mucus, snofl; the Middle Dutch word for a head cold, snof; the Old Norse word for snout, which is snoppa; and nan, a Greek verb meaning "to flow." Nowadays, we mostly use snivel as we have since the 1600s: when self-pitying whining is afoot, whether or not such sniveling is accompanied by unchecked nasal flow.

    2 min

  5. 4 DAYS AGO

    moot

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 19, 2024 is: moot \MOOT\ adjective Moot typically describes something that is no longer important or worth discussing. It can also describe something that is argued about but not possible for people to prove. // I think they were wrong, but the point is moot. Their decision has been made and it can't be changed now. // Perhaps they should have foreseen the effects of the change, but that point is moot. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moot) Examples: "Before the game, there were a few nerves, to be sure. People worried what a second straight loss would mean, about the team having to return to Dallas deflated and without momentum. Those concerns turned out to be moot, with a largely stress-free second half as the Celtics' lead ballooned to more than 20 points in the third quarter as the team never looked back." — Danny McDonald, et al., The Boston Globe, 18 June 2024 Did you know? To describe an argument as "moot" is to say that there's no point in discussing it further. In other words, a moot argument is one that has no practical or useful significance and is fit only for theoretical consideration, as in a classroom. It's no surprise, then, that the roots of moot are entwined with academia. The adjective moot followed a few centuries behind the noun moot, which comes from mōt, an Old English word meaning "assembly." Originally, moot referred to an Anglo-Saxon deliberative assembly that met primarily for the administration of justice. By the 16th century, functioning judicial moots had diminished, the only remnant being [moot courts](https://bit.ly/3Yt50lo), academic mock courts in which law students could try hypothetical cases for practice. The earliest use of moot as an adjective was as a synonym of [debatable](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/debatable), but because the cases students tried in moot courts had no bearing on the real world, the word gained the additional sense—used especially in North America—of "deprived of practical significance."

    2 min

  6. 5 DAYS AGO

    denigrate

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 18, 2024 is: denigrate \DEN-ih-grayt\ verb To denigrate someone is to criticize them heavily and often unfairly. Denigrate can also mean "to make something seem less important or valuable." // Her essay denigrates her mentor as a person and as a teacher. // Though initially quick to denigrate the work that had been done, the group quickly realized that those efforts had laid a good foundation for what they themselves hoped to accomplish. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/denigrate) Examples: "As much as I want to have good taste in books, as much as I want to use that status to sell books that I think make the world a better place … I need to be cognizant of ways people like me have used 'good taste' as an act of cultural authoritarianism to manipulate culture, denigrate creations from other identities, and empower themselves at the expense of others." — Josh Cook, The Art of Libromancy: Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-First Century, 2023 Did you know? The word denigrate has been part of English since the 16th century and can be traced back to the Latin nigrare, meaning "to blacken." When denigrate was first used, it meant "to cast aspersions on someone's character or reputation." Eventually, it developed a second sense of "to make black" ("factory smoke denigrated the sky"), representing an interesting case of a literal sense (now rare) following a figurative one. Nowadays, you’re most likely to hear denigrate used as a synonym of [defame](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defame) or [belittle](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/belittle).

    2 min

  7. 6 DAYS AGO

    grandiloquence

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 17, 2024 is: grandiloquence \gran-DIH-luh-kwunss\ noun Grandiloquence is a formal word that refers to the use of extravagantly colorful or pompous language often in order to sound impressive and important. // He was known for the [flowery](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flowery) grandiloquence of his speeches which, his passionate delivery notwithstanding, always caused more than a few listeners to doze off. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grandiloquence) Examples: “The novel, a melodramatic saga of social climbing and doomed romance, is a deliberate anachronism in both its themes and its style. Its [Belle Époque](https://bit.ly/4etlvTv) setting, sweeping cast of characters, frequent asides to the reader, and grandiloquence place it firmly in the tradition of the nineteenth-century novel. It is not concerned with truth but with lies: glittering surfaces, concealed identities, and foolish pretensions.” — Jess Bergman, The New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2023 Did you know? Grandiloquence is a word for [highfalutin](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/highfalutin) speech that itself has somewhat of a highfalutin ring. It’s one of several English words related to speech that come from the Latin verb loqui, meaning “to speak,” including [loquacious](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/loquacious) (“full of excessive talk”), [soliloquy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soliloquy) (“a long, dramatic monologue”), and, notably, [eloquence](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eloquence), which refers to the ability to speak or write well and in an effective or persuasive way. Those who use grandiloquence in their speech or prose could also be described as a bit [extra](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extra) in their attempts at eloquence—the grand in grandiloquence traces back to the Latin adjective grandis meaning “great” or “grand.”

    2 min

  8. 16 NOV

    steadfast

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 16, 2024 is: steadfast \STED-fast\ adjective Someone described as steadfast is very devoted or loyal to a person, belief, or cause. Steadfast is also used to describe something, such as support, that remains unchanging. // Despite the singer’s recent change in creative direction, his true fans have remained steadfast. // She remained committed to her steadfast belief in nature's ability to heal itself. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/steadfast) Examples: "Describing the slowness of change is often confused with acceptance of the status quo. It's really the opposite: an argument that the status quo must be changed, and it will take steadfast commitment to see the job through. It's not accepting defeat; it's accepting the terms of possible victory." — Rebecca Solnit, LitHub.com, 11 Jan. 2024 Did you know? Steadfast has held its ground for many centuries. Its Old English predecessor, stedefæst, combines stede, meaning "place," and fæst, meaning "fixed." Steadfast was first used in battle contexts to describe warriors who literally stood their ground, which led to its "immovable" sense, as when [Sinclair Lewis](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sinclair-Lewis) wrote of "a castle, steadfast among storms." (The word was also once used to describe steady hands, as well as substances that keep their solid, firm state.) These senses were soon joined by one applied to people's character, implying unswerving faith, loyalty, or devotion; arriving in the 12th century, this meaning has remained steady in the English language ever since.

    2 min

  9. 15 NOV

    cachet

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 15, 2024 is: cachet \ka-SHAY\ noun Cachet is used as a synonym of [prestige](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prestige) to refer to the respect and admiration someone or something receives for being successful or important. It can also be used to refer to a characteristic feature or quality that confers such prestige. // His research in Antarctica gave him a certain cachet among other scientists. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cachet) Examples: "This 175-year-old real-life castle in Northern Ireland has real historical cachet." — Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 24 Sept. 2024 Did you know? If you're looking for a catchy word to add to your vocabulary, why not give your [stamp of approval](https://bit.ly/3A2L9Qo) to cachet? After all, this term is borrowed directly from French, a language which has [long held a certain cachet in English](https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/norman-conquest-new-english-words) (formal- and fancy-sounding English words often have a French pedigree—evidence of the prestige bestowed on the language). In French, cachet—which comes from the Middle French verb cacher meaning "to press"—refers to an official seal pressed into soft wax and used on formal and legal documents. The "seal" sense of cachet has been used in English since the 17th century, and in the 19th century the word started acquiring its extended senses, first referring to a feature or quality conferring prestige, and by century's end to prestige itself.

    2 min

  10. 14 NOV

    raddled

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 14, 2024 is: raddled \RAD-uld\ adjective Someone described as raddled is in a confused or befuddled state (as from drinking). Raddled can also describe things that are broken-down or worn. // We were met at the door by a raddled old man who turned out to be the actor’s father, and who in his day had also been an estimable presence on the London stage. // Louisa was delighted to discover a raddled old radio in her grandparents’ attic, even though it didn’t work. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/raddled) Examples: “There seems to be very little information out there about Krinkles, the star of a commercial so disturbing its eternal afterlife on the internet is guaranteed: it’s probably all in a heavily guarded facility in Area 51. In the ad, this raddled gentleman pokes his head out of what appears to be a kennel after what was clearly a heavy night, crashes his way through the scenery, then eats some cereal.” — Emma Beddington, The Guardian (London, England), 31 Jan. 2024 Did you know? The origins of raddled are a bit of a riddle, but they may have something to do with rodel, the Middle English precursor to [ruddle](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ruddle). Rattled? No need to get [red-faced](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/red-faced), we’re here to explain. Rodel, like ruddle, refers to [red ocher](https://bit.ly/4evNces), a red pigment used for (among other things) marking animals, and especially sheep. Etymologists believe that both the noun [raddle](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/raddle) (also meaning “red ocher”) and verb raddle (“to mark or paint with raddle”) come from a variant of rodel. A raddled sheep is a sheep marked with red dye (as at shearing or breeding time). Over time, the verb raddle was applied more broadly to the reddening of anything, and often to reddening by use (or overuse) of [rouge](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rouge) on a person’s face to conceal wrinkles caused by age or exhaustion. To be raddled thusly was not a compliment, and may have led to the “worn out” sense of the adjective raddled. The “confused” sense of raddled is often associated with the influence of alcohol, possibly due to the “reddening” effects of a [tipple](https://bit.ly/4evQIWc) on one’s visage.

    3 min
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Build your vocabulary with Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day! Each day a Merriam-Webster editor offers insight into a fascinating new word -- explaining its meaning, current use, and little-known details about its origin.

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