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. 5H AGO

    derelict

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 28, 2025 is: derelict \DAIR-uh-likt\ adjective Derelict is a formal word that describes something that is no longer cared for or used by anyone. It can also describe someone who is negligent or who fails to do what needs to be done. // The kids made sure to stay away from the spooky derelict houses in the neighborhood on Halloween. // The officers were charged with being derelict in their duty. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/derelict) Examples: "In a movie that spends most of its time confined to the disorienting guts of a derelict spaceship, tracking Kenneth's de-evolution from Kennedy wannabe to a used car salesman version of [Colonel Kurtz](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Apocalypse-Now) is often the only moral compass we have to find our way towards a better tomorrow." — David Ehrlich, Indie Wire, 15 Feb. 2025 Did you know? The Latin verb relinquere, meaning "to leave behind," left English with a number of words, including derelict. Something derelict has been left behind, or at least appears that way. In another sense, someone who is derelict leaves behind or neglects their duties or obligations. Another descendant of relinquere is [relinquish](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relinquish), meaning "to leave behind," "to give up," or "to release." [Relic](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relic) also ultimately comes from relinquere. Relics, in the original sense of the term, are things treasured for their association with a saint or martyr—that is, objects saints and martyrs left behind. Relinquere also gives English its name for the containers or shrines which hold relics, [reliquary](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reliquary).

    2 min

  2. 1D AGO

    archetype

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 27, 2025 is: archetype \AHR-kih-type\ noun Archetype refers to someone or something that is seen to be a perfect example. It is also a word for the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies. // The college’s most popular philosophy professor is the archetype of the preoccupied academic, complete with the messy desk, disheveled hair, and brilliant theories. // The film is considered a sci-fi archetype for its pioneering use of special effects and prosthetics to depict an alien world. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archetype) Examples: “One of the most notable features of folktales, fairy tales, myths, and legends are their simplicity. These stories, many of them passed down to us across generations, are compelling because of the recognizable archetypes they incorporate (the evil stepmother, the dutiful daughter, the greedy king, etc.), their straightforward moral arcs, and their use of magic and transformation as catalysts for the plot.” — Gina Chung, LitHub.com, 13 Mar. 2024 Did you know? In her 2024 book Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, author [Naomi Klein](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Klein-Naomi) writes that “the [doppelganger](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doppelganger) archetype has appeared across time to explore issues of life and death, the body versus the soul, the [ego](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ego) versus the [id](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/id) …” Klein doesn’t mean that the same [double](https://bit.ly/40zr0Ms), evil twin, or [changeling](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/changeling) keeps popping up throughout history, of course, but that the original concept of a doppelganger has served as a pattern, model, or template for writers to use in different ways, each supplying it with their own imagined details. Archetype’s origins are in two Greek words: the verb archein, meaning “to begin,” and the noun typos, meaning “[type](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/type).” Since its debut in English in the mid-1500s, archetype has taken on uses specific to the ideas of [Plato](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plato), [John Locke](https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Locke), and [Carl Jung](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Jung), but in everyday prose, archetype is most commonly used to mean “a perfect example,” as in “Robert Louis Stevenson’s [The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde](https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Strange-Case-of-Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde) is considered an archetype of doppelganger fiction.”

    2 min

  3. 2D AGO

    flippant

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 26, 2025 is: flippant \FLIP-unt\ adjective Something described as flippant, such as behavior or a comment, is lacking in proper respect or seriousness. // The celebrity made a flippant remark when questioned about the scandal. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flippant) Examples: "While the show seems to take a flippant attitude to the neatly packaged solutions offered by wellness tourism, I'm curious to see what it makes of these treatments' underlying Buddhist and Hindu philosophies." — Kate Gordon, The Case Western Reserve Observer, 28 Feb. 2025 Did you know? Consider the spatula, humble friend to many a cook: admire the pliancy with which it flips pancakes, eggs, your more [wieldy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wieldy) cuts of meat. We’re not being flippant—that is, [facetious](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/facetious) or smart-alecky—utensils are important, and spatulas are particularly useful for understanding the origins of flippant. Flippant is believed to come from the English verb [flip](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flip), which, in turn, is a supposed imitation of the sound of something (say, a flapjack) flipping. The earliest uses of flippant described flexible things (like a spatula) or nimble, spry people, capable of moving this way and that with ease. Soon enough, flippant began to be used not only for people fluent in their movements, but those whose words flow easily. To be this kind of flippant was once a good thing; however, as people who speak freely can sometimes speak more freely than propriety permits, English users eventually [flipped the script](https://bit.ly/3XINVTN) on flippant, and the positive sense fell into disuse, bending to the "disrespectful" sense we know today.

    2 min

  4. 3D AGO

    hobbit

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 25, 2025 is: hobbit \HAH-bit\ noun A hobbit is a member of a fictitious peaceful and friendly race of small humanlike creatures that dwell underground. // The story was filled with all sorts of imaginary people, including hobbits. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hobbit) Examples: "Hobbits were no part of Tolkien's original plan. They entered rather late and through a side door, as the unexpected central characters in a children's story, The Hobbit, which Tolkien invented for his own children but which found an immediate and lasting worldwide audience. And of which The Lord of the Rings was the commissioned, long-awaited and trebly successful sequel." — Verlyn Flieger, LitHub.com, 24 June 2024 Did you know? "What is a hobbit?" wrote [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://www.britannica.com/biography/J-R-R-Tolkien) in the 1937 fantasy novel that introduced Mr. Bilbo Baggins. The author then answered himself: "They are (or were) little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves. ... There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along ..." Tolkien tells us that hobbits "are inclined to be fat," and that they "dress in bright colours"; they "have good-natured faces, and deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner)." Tolkien, a professional linguist who taught at Oxford, coined the word hobbit (and many other terms—in fact, a whole new language) for [The Hobbit](https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Hobbit) and for his enormously popular three-part novel [The Lord of the Rings](https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Lord-of-the-Rings).

    2 min

  5. 4D AGO

    garble

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 24, 2025 is: garble \GAR-bul\ verb To garble something, such as a word, name, message, etc., is to cause it to be unclear or distorted. This type of garbling can be the result of an accident, ignorance, or a transmission error. Garble can also mean "to so alter or distort as to create a wrong impression or change the meaning." // I was so nervous I garbled their names. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garble) Examples: "Noisy environments and interruptions garbled the audio or led to the services transcribing voices of people in the office who weren’t in our meeting." — Danielle Abril, The Washington Post, 17 Aug. 2023 Did you know? Garble is a word with a spicy history, and we're not just saying that to curry favor with [gastronomes](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gastronome). It is presumed that this word was passed from Arabic to Mediterranean Europe through trade in Eastern spices, and was first introduced into English from the Anglo-French verb garbeler, used for the action of sifting out impurities—such as dust, dirt, husks, etc.—from spices. In the 15th century, the English garble carried this same meaning as well as "to cull," i.e., to sort or pick out the best parts of something. If these origins seem curious given garble’s now more common meanings of "to so alter or distort as to create a wrong impression" and "to cause to be unclear or confusing; to introduce error into," consider that one way of garbling someone’s story is to take bits and pieces out of context.

    2 min

  6. 5D AGO

    de rigueur

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 23, 2025 is: de rigueur \duh-ree-GUR\ adjective De rigueur is a formal adjective that describes things that are necessary if you want to be fashionable, popular, socially acceptable, etc.—in other words, things required by fashion, etiquette, or custom. // Dark sunglasses are de rigueur these days among [fashionistas](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fashionista). [See the entry >](https://bit.ly/4fOAAz9) Examples: “Summer swimwear has come a long way since itty-bitty string bikinis were de rigueur for the beach and by the pool.” — Amanda Randone, Refinery29.com, 31 May 2024 Did you know? It takes a lot of work to be cool. One needs to wear the right clothes, understand the right pop culture references, and use the right lingo before it ceases to be, ahem, [on fleek](https://bit.ly/40ylZU8). [Rigor](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rigor) is required, is what we’re saying—a strict precision in adhering to the dictates of fashion. Such rigor is at the crux of the adjective de rigueur, a direct borrowing from French where it means “out of strictness” or “according to strict etiquette.” Rigor is also what distinguishes de rigueur from a similar French borrowing, [du jour](https://bit.ly/4affMjr). While the latter describes things that are popular, fashionable, or prominent at a particular time, as in “topic/style/buzzword du jour,” de rigueur describes that which is considered mandatory by fashion, etiquette, or custom for acceptability within a given social sphere or context. A [bucket hat](https://bit.ly/40hDMh5), for example, may be the [chapeau](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chapeau) du jour if it is currently popular or prevalent, but it would only be de rigueur if, among a certain crowd, you would be given the side-eye for not wearing one.

    2 min

  7. 6D AGO

    neologism

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 22, 2025 is: neologism \nee-AH-luh-jiz-um\ noun Neologism can refer either to a new word or expression or to a new meaning of an existing word. // I love seeing all the slangy neologisms that pop up on social media every year. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neologism) Examples: "… [U]ndertakers refashioned themselves … as funeral directors over the span of a few decades in the early twentieth century. … [T]he new generation of morticians (another neologism meant to conjure expertise) bought up shambling Victorian mansions in swish residential districts and invented a new form of comfort." — Dan Piepenbring, Harper's, 2 Feb. 2024 Did you know? The English language [is constantly picking up neologisms](https://www.merriam-webster.com/slang). In recent decades, for example, social media has added a number of new terms to the language. [Finsta](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/finsta), [rizz](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rizz), [influencer](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/influencer), [meme](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meme), and [doomscroll](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doomscroll) are just a few examples of modern-day neologisms that have been integrated into American English. The word neologism was itself a brand-new [coinage](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coinage) in the latter half of the 18th century, when English speakers borrowed the French term néologisme, meaning both "the habit of forming new words" and "a newly formed word." The French term, which comes from néologie, meaning "coining of new words," comprises familiar elements: we recognize our own [neo-](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neo-), with various meanings relating to what is new, as in [neoclassical](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neoclassical), and [-logy](https://bit.ly/4hY3rmw), meaning "oral or written expression," as in [trilogy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trilogy).

    2 min

  8. MAR 21

    permeate

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 21, 2025 is: permeate \PER-mee-ayt\ verb To permeate is to pass or spread through something. // The scent of lilacs permeated the room. // A feeling of anxiety permeated the office as everyone rushed to meet the deadline. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/permeate) Examples: "The smell of sawdust permeates the air, and the din of buzzing chainsaws echoes from crews working to clear debris." — Chris Boyette, CNN, 3 Oct. 2024 Did you know? Permeate was borrowed into English in the 17th century from Latin permeatus, which comes from the prefix per- ("through") and the verb meare, meaning "to go" or "to pass." Meare hasn't exactly permeated English. Aside from permeate itself, its other English descendants include the relatively common [permeable](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/permeable) as well as the medical [meatus](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meatus) ("a natural body passage") and the downright rare [irremeable](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irremeable) ("offering no possibility of return").

    1 min

  9. MAR 20

    vernal

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 20, 2025 is: vernal \VER-nul\ adjective Vernal is a formal adjective that describes something that relates to or occurs in the spring. // It is such a relief after a long, cold winter to see the trees and flowers in their glorious vernal bloom. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vernal) Examples: “I visited the wetland as best I could, given my professional obligations and [peripatetic](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peripatetic) lifestyle, which often nurtured anything but stillness. Still, I baked and sweated in the summer sun, drew a thick down jacket around me on cold and snowy winter days, huddled in vernal rain, lounged in fall light.” — Christopher Norment, Terrain.org, 18 Sept. 2024 Did you know? “The sun’s coming soon. / A future, then, of warmth and runoff, / and old faces surprised to see us. / A [cache](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cache) of love, I’d call it, / opened up, vernal, refreshed.” These are the closing lines of the poem “[Runoff](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/157107/runoff-61d473adbc34c)” by Sidney Burris, and even if you don’t (yet) know the word vernal, you can probably divine its meaning from context. The sun’s arrival? Melting snow and ice? Optimism? It all sure sounds like spring, the muse of many a poet and the essence of vernal, an adjective that describes all things related to the season. While the sun has been crossing the [equator](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/equator) since time immemorial, producing a vernal [equinox](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/equinox) in the northern hemisphere in late March and in the southern hemisphere in late September, the word vernal has only been in use in English since the early 16th century, when it blossomed from the Latin adjective vernālis. That word in turn traces back to the noun vēr, meaning “spring.”

    2 min

  10. MAR 19

    juggernaut

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 19, 2025 is: juggernaut \JUG-er-nawt\ noun A juggernaut is something (such as a force, campaign, or movement) that is extremely large and powerful and cannot be stopped. // The team is a juggernaut this year, winning more games than any team before it has. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juggernaut) Examples: "[Judd] Apatow talked about the box office success of 'Wicked,' the Universal musical that became a juggernaut over the holiday season and has been an awards darling ..." — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 8 Feb. 2025 Did you know? In the early 14th century, Franciscan missionary [Friar Odoric](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Odoric-of-Pordenone) brought to Europe the story of an enormous carriage that carried an image of the Hindu god [Vishnu](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Vishnu) (whose title was Jagannāth, literally, "lord of the world") through the streets of India in religious processions. Odoric reported that some worshippers deliberately allowed themselves to be crushed beneath the vehicle's wheels as a sacrifice to Vishnu. That story was likely an exaggeration or misinterpretation of actual events, but it spread throughout Europe. The tale caught the imagination of English listeners, and they began using juggernaut to refer to any massive vehicle (such as a steam locomotive) and to any other enormous entity with powerful crushing capabilities. While the word is still used sometimes in British English to refer to a very large, heavy truck (also called a "juggernaut lorry"), juggernaut is more commonly used figuratively for a relentless force, entity, campaign, or movement, as in "a political/economic/cultural juggernaut."

    2 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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