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

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 8, 2024 is: incognito \in-kahg-NEE-toh\ adjective or adverb
When you go incognito, your true identity is kept secret (as through the use of a different name or a disguise). Incognito can be used either as an adverb or an adjective with the same meaning.

// The food critic made an incognito visit to the restaurant.

// The pop star travels incognito as much as possible, using a fake name and wearing a wig and heavy makeup to avoid the paparazzi.

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


Examples:

"Though legitimate reasons exist for sailing incognito, the researchers point to a number of suspicious sites of activity. These include a region in North Korean waters that the authors suggest corresponds to illegal fishing, having briefly boasted the world's highest density of fishing vessels between 2017 and 2019. Meanwhile the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, off the eastern coast of Australia, was visited by an average of three fishing vessels a day, suggesting possible unobserved environmental damage." — The Economist, 6 Jan. 2024


Did you know?

The ancient Romans knew that there are times when you don't want to be recognized. For example, a story in Ovid’s Metamorphoses tells how Jupiter and Mercury visited a village incognito and asked for lodging. The supposedly penniless travelers were turned away from every household except that of a poor elderly couple named [Baucis and Philemon](https://www.thoughtco.com/philemon-and-baucis-112315); the pair provided a room and a feast for the visitors despite their own poverty. The Romans had a word that described someone or something unknown, like the gods in the tale: incognitus, a term that is the ancestor of our modern incognito. Cognitus is a form of the Latin verb cognoscere, which means "to know" and which also gives us [recognize](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recognize) and [cognizance](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognizance), among other words.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 7, 2024 is: gossip \GAH-sup\ verb
To gossip is to talk about the personal lives of other people.

// The two siblings often gossip with each other about their neighbors via texting.

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


Examples:

“Not all gossip is bad, [psychologist, Miriam] Kirmayer said, nor does it always mean someone who talks about others will talk about you. ‘Sometimes, our friends are gossiping as a need to secure support or to set out our perspectives and experiences,’ she said. It can be a way to work through a problem or grow closer via shared values.” — Julia Pugachevsky, Business Insider, 26 Mar. 2024

Did you know?

Merriam-Webster here, your one and only source for the juicy history of the English lexicon (including gossip, girl). It’s no secret that gossiping often involves discussing the intimate details of other people’s lives, but did you know that the origins of gossip are a bit more [chummy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chummy), and even a tad [divine](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/divine)? [Word on the street](https://bit.ly/3QCFaHk) is that the Old English word sibb, meaning “relative” or “kinsman,” long ago combined with the word god (meaning, well, “god”) to form godsibb, which referred to a person who was spiritually related to another, specifically by being a [baptismal](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/baptismal) sponsor. Today we call such a person a godparent. Over the centuries, godsibb changed both in form and in meaning. In Middle English, gossib came to be used for a close friend or chum as well as for a godparent. From there it was only a short step to gossip, a word for anyone—not just a friend, relative, or sponsor—known for spilling [the tea](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tea). By the early 17th century, gossip had expanded into the verb use that has been the talk of the town ever since.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 6, 2024 is: moxie \MAHK-see\ noun
Moxie can refer to courage and determination (aka [nerve](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nerve)), energy and pep (aka [verve](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verve)), or know-how (as, say, reflected in one’s [oeuvre](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oeuvre)).

// They showed a lot of moxie in questioning their company’s policy.

// She clearly doesn’t need coffee to start her day full of moxie.

// The lead actor’s musical moxie inspired the addition of a serenade at the close of the play’s first act.

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


Examples:

“When your journalistic beat consists of providing helpful tips on how to win games, people naturally assume that you are an expert at playing them. That’s not always true, but I like to think that I make up for it with moxie and a reasonably consistent positive attitude.” — Deb Amlen, The New York Times, 29 Jan. 2024

Did you know?

If the idea of a carbonated [bevvy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bevvy) flavored with [gentian](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gentian) root makes you thirsty to [wet your whistle](https://bit.ly/49OgN05), then you’ve got some moxie, friend! Lowercase moxie—which today is a synonym of both nerve and verve—originated as uppercase Moxie, as in Moxie Nerve Food, a patent medicine and tonic invented by Dr. Augustin Thompson and sold in New England in the 1870s. Within a decade, when it was clear his drink wasn’t really medicinal, he carbonated Moxie and marketed it as a kind of 19th-century energy drink with a “delicious blend of the bitter and the sweet.” The soft drink and its advertising slogans (among them Make Mine Moxie!) eventually caught on around the country. The beverage was even a favorite of Charlotte’s Web author [E. B. White](https://www.britannica.com/biography/E-B-White), who wrote, “Moxie contains gentian root, which is the path to the good life.” The semantic jump from “a drink that gives you energy” to “energy” itself is as natural as a good advertising campaign. By 1930, moxie had acquired its earliest modern sense referring to [vim](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vim) and pep.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 5, 2024 is: affluent \AF-loo-unt\ adjective
Someone described as affluent has a large amount of money and owns many expensive things. Something, such as a place or institution, described as affluent is similarly [rich](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rich) or [wealthy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wealthy).

// The affluent suburb sports some of the finest public schools in the county owing to its considerable tax base.

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

Examples:

"Princeton packs many charms into its 18.4 square miles. Halfway between New York and Philadelphia, it has long attracted affluent professionals, many enduring commutes of more than an hour in return for roomy, historic houses, old-growth trees that burst into flower in spring and the cultural riches of Princeton University." — Julie Lasky, The New York Times, 21 Apr. 2021

Did you know?

Visualize with us: [coffers](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coffer) overflowing, a cash flow more than adequate, assets that are fluid, [an elderly duck in a top hat](https://d23.com/a-to-z/scrooge-mcduck/) diving into a pool of gold coins. The images conjured reflect the essence of the word affluent. Based on the Latin verb fluere, meaning "to flow," affluent is all about flow. (The same image is echoed in other fluere descendants, such as [confluence](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/confluence), [fluctuate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fluctuate), [fluid](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fluid), [influence](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/influence), [mellifluous](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mellifluous), and [superfluous](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/superfluous).) The flowing of goods or riches wasn't the word's first concern, however; 16th century print examples of affluent tend to be about the abundance of such intangibles as "goodness" and "spirit." In the 17th century, the flow suggested by affluent varied greatly: streams, poisons, estates, and blood were all described with the word. In modern use, affluent most often describes wealthy people (or ducks), or places where wealthy people live.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 4, 2024 is: meliorism \MEE-lee-uh-riz-um\ noun
Meliorism refers to the belief that the world tends to improve and that humans can aid its betterment.

// Her belief in meliorism has given her a positive outlook on life.

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


Examples:

"'Encanto' has been praised for its cultural accuracy. And many Colombians and Colombian Americans loved the film—but it has also started a debate: What can and can't one movie capture about a country? … 'I found it charming,' the writer and editor Camilo Garzón said in an interview. 'I found it beautiful. At the same time, it fell short in terms of what representation for representation’s sake can be.' He explained, 'In the spirit of American meliorism, the criticism is to make things better, not necessarily because I didn’t like it.'" — Laura Zornosa, The New York Times, 11 Mar. 2022

Did you know?

In 1877, British novelist [George Eliot](https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Eliot) believed she had coined [meliorist](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meliorist) when she wrote, "I don't know that I ever heard anybody use the word 'meliorist' except myself." Her contemporaries credited her with coining both meliorist and meliorism, and one of her letters contains an early documented use of meliorism; however, there is evidence that meliorist had been around decades before she started using it. Whoever coined it did so by drawing on the Latin word melior, meaning "better." It is likely that the English coinages were also influenced by another melior descendant, [meliorate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meliorate), a synonym of [ameliorate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ameliorate) ("to make better or more tolerable") that was introduced to English in the 1500s.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 3, 2024 is: deride \dih-RYDE\ verb
To deride someone or something is to subject them to usually harsh and bitter insults or criticism.

// Although derided by classmates for his insistence that he would be a millionaire by the age of 25, he achieved his goal when his Internet startup went public.

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

Examples:

“Founded in 2012, this Redwood City brewery stands out for its British-style cask ales.... It's a traditional way of making beer without adding carbon dioxide. Often derided as resulting in beers that are flat and warm, that's not actually the case.” — Jay R. Brooks, The Mercury News (San Jose, California), 12 Mar. 2024

Did you know?

Laughter may or may not be the best medicine—your mileage may vary—but it’s essential to understanding the verb deride. To deride someone or something is not merely to criticize or insult them, but to lower them (or attempt to lower them) in others’ esteem by making them appear ridiculous or worthy of mockery. This meaning is reflected in the word’s origins: deride comes from the Latin verb deridēre, a combination of the prefix [de-](https://bit.ly/4dfqqYm) (“to reduce or make lower”) and ridēre, meaning “to laugh.” Ridēre echoes in other English words as well, including [ridicule](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ridicule) and [ridiculous](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ridiculous). Ridicule functions as both verb (“to make fun of”) and noun (“the act of making fun of”), while ridiculous describes what arouses or deserves ridicule or mockery. More obscure than either of these ridēre descendants is the medical term [risorius](https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/risorius), which refers to a narrow band of muscle fibers in the face that reach to the corners of the mouth to make smiling possible. One does not necessarily need one’s risorius to deride something—people in the act of deriding may appear quite angry, even—but inspiring the bitter, contemptuous laughter of those within earshot is often the goal.