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

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 27, 2024 is: assail \uh-SAIL\ verb
Assail has a number of meanings relating to violent or powerful confrontations. It can be a straightforward synonym of [assault]( https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assault), as in "assailed by armed robbers," or it can mean "to oppose, challenge, or criticize harshly and forcefully," as in "citizens assailing the proposed changes." It can also mean "to trouble or afflict in a way that threatens to overwhelm," as in "assailed by fears." Assail can also apply to powerful perceptions: a smell that assails you, for example, is strongly noticeable and usually unpleasant. Occasionally, assail is used to mean "to encounter, undertake, or confront energetically," as in "with a deadline fast approaching, we assailed the project with renewed vigor."

// Most worthwhile achievements require that one persevere even when assailed by doubts.

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

Examples:

"What does it even mean to be good in a world as complex as ours, when great inequity remains unaddressed and often seems too daunting to assail, and when seemingly benign choices—which shoes to buy, which fruit to eat—can come with the moral baggage of large carbon footprints or the undercompensated labor of migrant workers?" — Nancy Kaffer, The Detroit (Michigan) Free Press, 9 Jan. 2020

Did you know?

If you're assailed by doubts about the word assail, allow us to set your mind at ease by providing some [surety](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surety). Assail comes, by way of Anglo-French, from the Latin verb assilire ("to leap upon"), which in turn comes from the Latin verb salire, meaning "to leap." (Salire is the root of a number of English words related to jumping and leaping, such as [somersault](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/somersault) and [sally](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sally), as well as [assault](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assault), a synonym of assail.) When assail was first used in the 13th century, it meant "to make a violent physical attack upon." By the early 15th century, English speakers were using the term to mean "to attack with words or arguments." Now the verb can apply to any kind of aggressive encounter, even if it is not necessarily violent or quarrelsome, as in "Upon entering the room, we were assailed by a horrible odor."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 26, 2024 is: homage \AH-mij\ noun
An homage is something that is done to honor someone or something. It is often used with the word pay (as in “pay homage”) to mean “to respect or honor.”

// Her latest book is an homage to her favorite city.

// The paintings in the new art gallery pay homage to women artists of the past.

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


Examples:

“The series also pays homage to Detroit with its brutal winters, chicken spots and fur-draped residents. It’s a city grounded in Black culture, which is only now beginning to reemerge after years of negligence.” — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 21 Mar. 2024

Did you know?

In medieval times, a person could officially become a [vassal](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vassal) of a king or lord by publicly announcing allegiance to him in a formal ceremony. In that ritual, known as homage (from the Latin root homo-, meaning “man”), the subject (who was usually but not always a man) knelt and placed his hands between those of his lord, symbolically surrendering himself and putting himself at the lord’s disposal and under his jurisdiction. A bond was thus forged between the two; the vassal’s part was to revere and serve his lord, and the lord’s role was to protect and provide for the vassal and his family. The symbolism attached to the word proved irresistible, and homage quickly broadened to apply with the meaning “respect or honor” in a variety of contexts. Today, a singer can pay homage to someone who influenced their career, and a recipe can be an homage to a chef’s hometown.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 25, 2024 is: tendentious \ten-DEN-shus\ adjective
Tendentious is a formal word used disapprovingly to describe someone or something expressing a strongly biased point of view in a way that may cause argument.

// The book proved to be a tendentious account of the town's history, written to rescue the reputation of one of its less scrupulous founders.

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

Examples:

“Polls can have their own politics, and media polls are often accused of being tendentious.” — Joseph Epstein, The Wall Street Journal, 26 Oct. 2021

Did you know?

Tendentious is one of several words English speakers can choose when they want to suggest that someone has made up their mind in advance. You may be partial to [predisposed](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predispose) or prone to favor [partisan](https://bit.ly/4a1jvzw), but whatever your leanings, we’re inclined to think you’ll benefit from adding tendentious to your repertoire. Tendentious is a relatively recent arrival to English, considering its Latin roots. In the latter half of the 19th century, English users took the Latinate stem tendenti- (from tendentia, meaning “tendency”) and combined it with the familiar adjective suffix [-ious](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/-ious) to form a word describing someone with a tendency to favor a particular point of view, motivated by an intent to promote a particular cause.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 24, 2024 is: burgeon \BER-jun\ verb
To burgeon is to grow or develop quickly—in other words to [flourish](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flourish), [blossom](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blossom) or [sprout](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sprout).

// The trout population in the stream has burgeoned since the town implemented its laws against [overfishing](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overfishing).

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

Examples:

"From the quaint charm of its historic downtown to the dynamic energy of its burgeoning Arts District, Gilbert [Arizona] offers something for everyone." — Lux Butler, The Arizona Republic, 7 Mar. 2024

Did you know?

Burgeon arrived in Middle English as burjonen, a borrowing from the Anglo-French verb burjuner, meaning "to bud or sprout." Burgeon is often used figuratively, as when writer [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ta-Nehisi-Coates) used it in his 2008 memoir The Beautiful Struggle: "… I was in the burgeoning class of kids whose families made too much for financial aid but not enough to make tuition payments anything less than a war." Usage commentators have objected to the use of burgeon to mean "to flourish" or "to grow rapidly," insisting that any figurative use should stay true to the word's earliest literal meaning and distinguish budding or sprouting from subsequent growing. But the sense of burgeon that indicates growing or expanding and prospering (as in "the burgeoning music scene" or "the burgeoning international market") has been in established use for decades and is, in fact, the most common use of burgeon today.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 23, 2024 is: exodus \EK-suh-dus\ noun
An exodus is a situation in which many people leave a place at the same time—in other words a mass departure or [emigration](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emigration).

// The resort town eagerly anticipated the mass exodus from the cities to its beaches as summer approached.

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


Examples:

“Experts link lower rents to a possible drop in demand after population losses during a recent exodus from parts of Southern California. As the state’s population has stagnated, some believe demand may cool and dampen rent growth.” — Anthony de Leon, The Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024

Did you know?

The Biblical book of Exodus describes the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, so it's no surprise that the word exodus, uncapitalized, has come to refer more generally to any mass departure. Exodus was adopted into English (via Latin) from the Greek word Exodos, which literally means “the road out.” Exodos was formed by combining the prefix ex-, meaning “out of,” and hodos, meaning “road” or “way.” Indeed, many roads led out of hodos into English; other hodos descendants include [episode](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/episode), [method](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/method), [odometer](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/odometer), and [period](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/period). While exodus is occasionally encountered in reference to an individual’s leaving (e.g., “his/her/their exodus”), such usage is likely to raise the eyebrows of editors who feel it should only refer to the departure [en masse](https://bit.ly/491e6rj) of a large group of people, as when novelist [Nnedi Okorafor](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nnedi-Okorafor) writes in her science fiction novel Lagoon (2015): “Everyone was trying to get somewhere, be it a church, a bar, home or out of Lagos. Then there was the exodus of people … to the parts of the city that had the least chance of flooding if the water rose too high.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 22, 2024 is: palpable \PAL-puh-bul\ adjective
Something described as palpable is obvious and notable. Palpable may also be used as a synonym of [tangible](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tangible) to describe something that can be perceived by one's sense of touch.

// The tension in the courtroom was palpable as the jury foreman stood to announce the verdict.

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

Examples:

"The power of the ancestral people who built [Cliff Palace](https://www.britannica.com/video/22034/group-cliff-dwellings-Colorado-Mesa-Verde-National) feels palpable as I stand inside the cliff hollow, marvelling at towers and rooms that slot together perfectly." — Linda Barnard, The Toronto Star, 16 Sept. 2023

Did you know?

If you find it fascinating how English speakers push words with concrete meanings into [figurative](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/figurative) use, we feel you. By which we mean we understand you, of course, not that we are patting your head or poking you in the shoulder. Palpable, which has since the 14th century described things that can be literally felt through the skin (such as a person’s pulse), has undergone an expansion similar to that of [feel](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feel) over the centuries, and is now more frequently used to describe things that cannot be touched but are still so easy to perceive that it is as though they could be—such as "a palpable tension in the air."