10 episodes

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.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day Merriam-Webster

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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.

    flout

    flout

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 28, 2024 is: flout \FLOUT\ verb
    To flout something, such as a law or rule, is to treat it with contemptuous disregard. A teenager flouting a curfew, for example, will not hide the fact that they are out past the time they are required to be home.

    // The court found that the company had continued to flout the law despite multiple warnings.

    [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flout)


    Examples:

    "Bringing a queer sensibility and a deep understanding of Modern Orthodox Jewish tradition to novel writing, [Temim] Fruchter asks whether finding comfort in mystery is a viable alternative to standard happy endings or bleak fates. 'City of Laughter' argues that flouting convention makes space for more authentic, expansive stories and more authentic, expansive lives." — Lauren LeBlanc, The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2024

    Did you know?

    If you flout a rule or societal norm, you ignore it without hiding what you're doing, or showing fear or shame; you flout it "out" in the open. The similar-sounding word [flaunt](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flaunt) is sometimes used in the same way, though that word's older and more common meaning is "to display ostentatiously," as in "people who flaunt their wealth." Critics have been objecting to the confusion of these two words since the early 1900s, but use of flaunt with the meaning "to treat with contemptuous disregard" is found in even polished, edited writing, and so [that meaning is included in dictionaries](https://bit.ly/3wAaWxv) as an established use of the word. Nonetheless, you may want to avoid it: there are still many who judge harshly those who (they feel) are flouting proper English usage.

    • 2 min
    auxiliary

    auxiliary

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 27, 2024 is: auxiliary \awg-ZILL-yuh-ree\ adjective
    In general use, auxiliary describes someone or something available to provide extra help, power, etc., when it is needed. In linguistics, an auxiliary verb (also called a “helping verb”) is used with another verb to do things like show a verb’s tense or form a question. In [nautical](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nautical) contexts, auxiliary can describe a sailboat equipped with a supplementary [inboard](https://bit.ly/42TR7xb) engine, or a vessel that provides supplementary assistance to other ships.

    // The auditorium has an auxiliary cooling system used only on particularly sweltering days.

    // “Are” in “They are arriving soon” is an auxiliary verb.

    [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/auxiliary)



    Examples:

    “The popular museum on the National Mall—and its auxiliary Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia—have hundreds of objects on display having to do with flight on Earth, but this will be the first having to do with autonomous flight on another planet.” — Roger Catlin, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024

    Did you know?

    What would we do if you sang out of tune—would we stand up and walk out on you? Not likely! Instead, we would provide auxiliary harmonies, joining our voices with yours in support. And if you need a little help from your friends in understanding the meaning of auxiliary, we’re here for that, too—just lend us your ears. Auxiliary, which comes from the Latin noun auxilium, meaning “aid,” “assistance,” or “reinforcement,” is used in a wide range of capacities in English to describe a person or thing that assists another. A fire department may bring in auxiliary units, for example, to battle a tough blaze, or a sailboat may be equipped with an auxiliary engine to supply propulsion when the wind disappears. In grammar, an [auxiliary verb](https://bit.ly/48zDeVW) assists another (main) verb to express person, number, [mood](https://bit.ly/42UUjsn), or tense, such as have in “They have now been informed about the meaning of auxiliary.” Isn’t auxiliary fab?

    • 2 min
    kismet

    kismet

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 26, 2024 is: kismet \KIZZ-met\ noun
    Kismet refers to a power that is believed to control what happens in the future. It is synonymous with both [fate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fate) and [destiny](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/destiny).

    // From the moment we met, we felt connected; we knew it was kismet.

    [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kismet)


    Examples:

    "I'd been a fan of Fantasia since she laid on that floor [on 'American Idol'] and sang 'Summertime,' because, I swear, she was singing to me. I voted for her until my finger was numb. I've always been a fan of hers—and she says the same thing about me. We always wanted to meet each other. It was kismet. So it was easy. The chemistry was natural." — Taraji P. Henson, quoted in The Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2024

    Did you know?

    Is it your fate to tie [macramé](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/macrame) while drinking coffee and eating sherbet in a minaret? That would be an unusual destiny, but if it turns out to be your kismet, you will owe much to Turkish and Arabic. We borrowed kismet from Turkish in the 1800s, but it ultimately comes from the Arabic word qisma, meaning "portion" or "lot." Several other terms in our bizarre opening question (namely, macramé, coffee, sherbet, and [minaret](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/minaret)) have roots in those languages too. In the case of macramé and minaret, there is a little French influence as well. Coffee and macramé also have Italian relations, and [sherbet](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sherbet) has an ancestor in a Persian name for a type of cold drink.

    • 1 min
    genuflect

    genuflect

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 25, 2024 is: genuflect \JEN-yuh-flekt\ verb
    To genuflect is to kneel, or nearly kneel, on one knee and then rise again in worship or as an act of respect. In figurative use, genuflect means "to be humbly obedient or respectful."

    // Churchgoers genuflected before the altar.

    // The politician was criticized for genuflecting to corporate interests.

    [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genuflect)

    Examples:

    "Many of the people whom director Rob Reiner has throwing bouquets during this documentary—Steven Spielberg, Larry David, Jon Stewart, Conan O’Brien and Sharon Stone among them—are all more famous than Mr. [[Albert] Brooks](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-Brooks), but genuflect before his comedic genius." — John Anderson, The Wall Street Journal, 9 Nov. 2023

    Did you know?

    Today we give reverence to genuflect, which comes from the Late Latin word genuflectere, formed from the noun genu ("knee") and the verb flectere ("to bend"). Flectere appears in the etymologies of a number of more common verbs, such as [reflect](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reflect) ("to bend or throw back light") and [deflect](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deflect) ("to turn aside"). By comparison genu has seen little use in English, but it did give us [geniculate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/geniculate), a word used in scientific contexts to mean "bent abruptly at an angle like a bent knee." Despite the resemblance, words such as [genius](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genius) and [genuine](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genuine) are not related to genuflect; instead, they are related (genius directly, and genuine indirectly) to the Latin verb gignere, meaning "to [beget](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beget)."

    • 2 min
    megillah

    megillah

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 24, 2024 is: megillah \muh-GHIL-uh\ noun
    Megillah is slang for a long, involved story or account. Megillah can also refer to a complicated sequence of events, or it can be used as a synonym of [ball of wax](https://bit.ly/3Ub1BWv) meaning “everything involved in what is under consideration.” All three senses of megillah are often preceded by the adjective whole.

    // Don’t worry about reciting the whole megillah from last night’s game; just give me the highlights.

    // Our grandfather always made a whole megillah out of Sundays, waking up before dawn to visit yard sales, then cooking a big meal in the afternoons for our extended family.

    [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/megillah)


    Examples:

    “What’s in a middle name? Pretty much the whole megillah, for the media scion known as Kendall Logan Roy. That middle name is more than just his father’s branding—it’s the gravitational core around which Kendall’s selfhood swings. For four seasons of ‘Succession,’ we’ve watched the mercurial magnate’s second son and occasional heir apparent strain against his birthright, sometimes plotting to overthrow his father, other times weeping submissively into his chest.” — Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 25 May 2023



    Did you know?

    Megillah comes from the Yiddish word megile, which itself comes from the Hebrew noun mĕgillāh, meaning “scroll” or “volume.” (Mĕgillāh is especially likely to be used in reference to the Book of Esther, which is read aloud at [Purim](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purim) celebrations.) It makes sense, then, that when megillah first appeared in English in the early 20th century, it referred to a story that was so long (and often tedious or complicated) that it was reminiscent of the length of the mĕgillāh scrolls. The Hebrew word is serious, but the Yiddish megile can be somewhat playful, and English’s megillah has also inherited that lightheartedness.

    • 2 min
    pedantic

    pedantic

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 23, 2024 is: pedantic \pih-DAN-tik\ adjective
    Pedantic describes someone or something that exhibits the characteristics of a [pedant]( https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedant)—that is, a person who often annoys other people by correcting small errors and giving too much attention to minor details. Pedantic also means “narrowly, stodgily, and often [ostentatiously](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ostentatious) [learned](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/learned).”

    // Their habit of reminding fellow birders that the bird is called a “Canada goose” and not a “Canadian goose” came across as pedantic rather than helpful.

    // Several attendees walked out of the lecture due to the pedantic nature of the presentation.

    [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedantic)


    Examples:

    “Published ... in 1818, ‘Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus’ is a terrifying, thought-provoking novel about the nature of humanity and the consequences of bringing life into the world. The titular character, as many a pedantic fan will have you know, isn’t the monster but his creator Victor Frankenstein.” — Wilson Chapman, Indie Wire, 12 Feb. 2024

    Did you know?

    In Shakespeare’s day, a pedant was a male schoolteacher. The word’s meaning was close to that of the Italian pedante, from which the English word was adapted. Someone who was pedantic was simply a tutor or teacher. But some instructional pedants of the day must have been pompous and dull because by the early 1600s both pedant and pedantic had gained extended senses applying to anyone who was obnoxiously and tediously devoted to their own academic [acumen](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acumen). When describing arguments, pedantic can be used for instances where one relies too heavily on minor details as a way to show off one’s intelligence.

    • 1 min

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