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

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 29, 2024 is: obstreperous \ub-STREP-uh-rus\ adjective
Obstreperous is a formal word that describes people or things that stubbornly resist control; in this use it’s a synonym of [unruly](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unruly). A person or thing described as obstreperous may also be defiantly or aggressively noisy.

// The moment the paper airplane landed, the instructor addressed the unruly class, telling them in the harshest tone that obstreperous conduct would not be tolerated.

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


Examples:

“In the 1887 essay ‘Silent People as Misjudged by the Noisy,’ an Atlantic contributor proposed an economical approach to talking: ‘As we get on in life past the period of obstreperous youth, we incline to talk less and write less, especially on the topics which we have most at heart,’ the writer noted. ‘We are beginning to realize the uselessness of perpetually talking … If there is a thing to be said, we prefer to wait and say it only when and where it will hit something or somebody.’” — Isabel Fattal, The Atlantic, 17 Feb. 2024

Did you know?

Imagine walking a dog down a sidewalk in a neighborhood full of delicious smells and other temptations—it’s easy to picture your pooch barking and straining at the leash to chase a squirrel, or dragging you toward something enticingly (to them) stinky, right? But can you imagine saying to your [doggo](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doggo) in response, “Quit being so obstreperous!” Probably not. Obstreperous has a much more formal flair than words, such as stubborn or unruly, used to describe similar behavior. As such it’s unlikely to be used in casual speech or contexts like the one above. The word comes from a combination of the handy Latin prefix ob- (meaning “against”) and strepere, a verb meaning “to make a noise”; someone who is obstreperous can be thought of as literally making noise to rebel against something, much like a protesting crowd or an unruly child. Strepere has made little noise in the English lexicon, however; in addition to obstreperous it seems only to have contributed to the rarely encountered [strepitous](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strepitous) and its synonym strepitant, which mean “characterized or accompanied by much noise”—that is, “noisy.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 28, 2024 is: gadfly \GAD-flye\ noun
In literal use, gadfly refers to any of various flies (such as a horsefly, [botfly](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/botfly), or [warble fly](https://bit.ly/49NrOi9)) that bite or annoy [livestock](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/livestock). Gadfly is most popular in figurative use, however, where it refers to someone who provokes or annoys other people especially by persistent criticism.

// The journalist was known as a gadfly for exposing hypocrisy in politics.

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

Examples:

"For years, the [L.A. County Board of Supervisors] has regularly had a 'performance evaluation' scheduled for closed session on its agenda. Any reporter or gadfly worth their salt knew this was actually just a time for the board to call a department head onto the carpet and scream at them behind closed doors." — Jaclyn Cosgrove, The Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2023

Did you know?

It's easy to guess what puts the fly in gadfly: in its oldest meaning, fly refers to a winged insect. But ([gadzooks](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gadzooks)!) what about the gad? As a standalone English word, [gad](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gad) means "chisel," but it once could be used for a spike, spear, or rod for goading cattle. It was in the 16th century that gad was joined with [fly](https://bit.ly/49Nc4eY) to refer to any of several insects that bother livestock. Before too long, English speakers began applying gadfly to people who annoy or provoke others. One of history's most famous gadflies was the philosopher [Socrates](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Socrates), who was known for his constant questioning of his fellow Athenians' ethics, misconceptions, and assumptions. In his Apology, [Plato](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plato) describes Socrates' characterization of Athens as a large and sluggish horse and of Socrates himself as the fly that bites and rouses it. Many translations use gadfly in this portion of the Apology, and Socrates is sometimes referred to as the "gadfly of Athens."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 27, 2024 is: glean \GLEEN\ verb
To glean is to gather or collect something bit by bit, or in a gradual way. Glean can also be used to mean “to search (something) carefully” and “to find out.”

// Neil has a collection of antique tools gleaned from flea markets and garage sales.

// They spent days gleaning the files for information.

// The police used old-fashioned detective work to glean his whereabouts.

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


Examples:

“Not only did procuring money to maintain her company figure in Graham’s acceptance of the occasional theater job during the 1930s; perhaps, too, she thought that being associated with a successful play could bring new audiences to her dance performances. There can be no doubt that she gleaned something from each experience outside the rigorous and profoundly idiosyncratic works she created for her company, even if she learned that there were some projects she would prefer never to undertake again.” — Deborah Jowitt, Errand into the Maze: The Life and Works of Martha Graham, 2024

Did you know?

While it is certainly true that one must reap what one sows (that is, harvest the crops that one plants), what should be done about the grain and other produce left over that the reapers missed? Well, friends, that must be gleaned—[waste not, want not](https://bit.ly/4aRGUV1), after all. It’s a finicky business, too, picking through stalks and under leaves and whatnot. When it was first used in English in the 14th century, glean carried both the sense of “to gather grain or other produce left by reapers” and the more figurative meaning of “to gather information or material bit by bit,” reflecting the slow, gradual, painstaking work of scouring the fields. Over the years, and especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, glean has also come to be used frequently with the meaning “to find out, learn, ascertain.” This sense has been criticized by folks who think glean should always imply the drudgery involved in the literal grain-gathering sense, but it is well established and perfectly valid.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 26, 2024 is: symposium \sim-POH-zee-um\ noun
Symposium can refer either to a formal meeting at which experts discuss a particular topic, or to a collection of articles on a particular subject. Symposium has two plural forms: symposia and symposiums.

// Professors and graduate students attended a three-day symposium on climate change.

// The organization will be publishing a symposium on genetic research.

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


Examples:

“In 1966, at a meeting remembered in anthropological lore as the beginning of hunter-gatherer studies, seventy-five experts assembled in Chicago to synthesize our knowledge about foraging peoples. More than ninety-nine per cent of human history was spent without agriculture, the organizers figured, so it was worth documenting that way of life before it disappeared altogether. The symposium—and an associated volume that appeared two years later, both titled ‘Man the Hunter’—exemplified an obsession with hunting, meat-eating, and maleness.” — Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 25 Sept. 2023

Did you know?

When you hear the word symposium, you may—quite understandably—envision conferences full of intellectuals giving heady presentations on various [arcana](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arcana). But it was drinking, more than thinking, that drew people to the original symposia and gave us the word. Symposium (symposia or symposiums in plural form) comes from the Greek noun symposion, the word ancient Greeks used for a drinking party that follows a banquet. Symposion in turn comes from sympinein, a verb that combines pinein, meaning “to drink,” with the prefix syn-, meaning “together.” Originally, English speakers only used symposium to refer to such an ancient Greek party, but in the 18th century British gentlemen’s clubs started using the word for [confabs](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/confab) in which conversation was fueled by drinking. By the end of the 18th century, symposium had gained the more sober sense we know today, referring to meetings in which the focus is more on imbibing ideas and less on imbibing, say, [mead](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mead).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 25, 2024 is: countermand \KOUNT-er-mand\ verb
To countermand an order is to revoke it, especially by giving a new order.

// Orders to blow up the bridge were countermanded by local officials.

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

Examples:

"He [rugby player Lewis Jones] almost missed his 1950 Welsh debut as he was about to board an aircraft carrier for Hong Kong before the orders were countermanded." — The Daily Telegraph (London), 9 Mar. 2024

Did you know?

In the military, one's mandate is to follow the commands (and sometimes the countermands) of the officers. Doing their bidding is not particularly commendable—it's simply mandatory. The Latin verb mandare, meaning "to entrust" or "to order," is the authority behind countermand. It's also behind the words [mandate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandate), [command](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/command), [demand](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demand), [commend](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commend) (which can mean "to entrust" as well as "to praise"), and [mandatory](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandatory). Countermand came to English via Anglo French, where the prefix cuntre- ("against") was combined with the verb mander ("to command"). It has been a part of English since the 1400s.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 24, 2024 is: ebullient \ih-BULL-yunt\ adjective
If someone or something is appealingly lively and enthusiastic, they may also be described as ebullient.

// Akua's ebullient personality made her the life of the party.

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


Examples:

"[Les] McCann, who would later serve as a drummer and horn player in his high-school marching band, soon developed a love for the great symphonies and for distinctive rhythm and blues vocal stylists such as Bullmoose Jackson, Billy Eckstine and Louis Jordan. But it was the ebullient gospel music he heard at his local Baptist church that touched him the deepest. 'That was the foundation, the basis for all of my knowledge,' says McCann, whose [rollicking](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rollicking) piano work still bears a strong gospel tinge." — George Varga, The San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Jan. 2024

Did you know?

Someone who is ebullient is bubbling over with enthusiasm, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that ebullient comes from the Latin verb ebullire, which means "to bubble out." When ebullient was first used in the late 1500s its meaning hewed closely to its Latin source: ebullient meant "boiling" or "bubbling," and described things like boiling water and boiling oil instead of someone's bubbly personality. Only later did the word's meaning broaden beyond describing the liveliness of a boiling liquid to encompass emotional liveliness and enthusiasm.