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

    • Arts
    • 4.4 • 1.1K Ratings

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.

    tawdry

    tawdry

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 18, 2024 is: tawdry \TAW-dree\ adjective
    Something described as tawdry is cheap and gaudy in appearance or quality. Tawdry is also often used to describe something considered morally bad or distasteful, as in "a tawdry tale of political [skulduggery](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skulduggery)."

    // Tawdry decorations cluttered the tiny house.

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

    Examples:

    "Chicago boasts a deep bench of architectural talent to make a [pedestrianized](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedestrianize) State Street a success, whether with a modernist, traditional or some new-fangled flavor. In contrast, the old pedestrian mall was tacky, aping a tawdry suburban mall." — Craig Barner, The Chicago Sun-Times, 21 Aug. 2023

    Did you know?

    In the 7th century, Etheldreda, the queen of [Northumbria](https://www.britannica.com/place/Northumbria), renounced her husband and her royal position in order to become a nun. She was renowned for her saintliness and is said to have died of a swelling in her throat, which she took as a judgment upon her fondness for wearing necklaces in her youth. Her shrine became a principal site of pilgrimage in England. An annual fair was held in her honor on October 17th, and her name became simplified to St. Audrey. At these fairs various kinds of cheap knickknacks were sold, along with a type of necklace called St. Audrey's lace, which by the 16th century had become altered to tawdry lace. Eventually, tawdry came to be used to describe anything cheap and gaudy that might be found at these fairs or anywhere else.

    • 2 min
    blarney

    blarney

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 17, 2024 is: blarney \BLAR-nee\ noun
    Blarney refers to false but charming talk that often flatters the listener.

    // The bartender laughingly asked her [gregarious](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gregarious) patron if anyone ever believed his blarney.

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


    Examples:

    “Some tales are mundane, like the song about Molly Malone: ‘In Dublin fair city, the girls are so pretty …’ Did such a woman ever exist? There’s a record of a Mary Malone who lived (and died) in the 17th century. She was likely both a fishmonger and a lady of the night. … Some tales are blarney. Blarney Castle dates to 1446, and there’s a slab of carboniferous limestone near the top. It’s said to be the stone used by Jacob as a pillow when he dreamt of a ladder to heaven. Others say Clíodhna, Queen of the Banshees, told Cormac Laidir MacCarthy to kiss the stone so he would be eloquent when defending his home in the court of Queen Elizabeth.” — Kevin Fisher-Paulson, The San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Mar. 2023

    Did you know?

    The [village of Blarney](https://www.britannica.com/place/Blarney-Ireland) in County Cork, Ireland, is home to Blarney Castle, and in the southern wall of that edifice lies the famous Blarney Stone. Legend has it that anyone who kisses the Blarney Stone will gain the gift of skillful flattery, but that gift must be attained at the price of some limber maneuvering—you have to lie down and hang your head over a precipice to reach and kiss the stone. One story claims the word blarney gained popularity as a word for “flattery” after Queen Elizabeth I of England used it to describe the flowery (but apparently less than honest) [cajolery](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cajolery) of McCarthy Mor, who was then the lord of Blarney Castle.

    • 2 min
    querulous

    querulous

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 16, 2024 is: querulous \KWAIR-yuh-lus\ adjective
    Someone described as querulous is constantly or habitually complaining. Querulous can also be used synonymously with fretful or whining when describing something, such as a person's tone of voice.

    // She shows an impressive amount of patience when dealing with querulous customers.

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

    Examples:

    "Everyone has a theory about the decline of the Academy Awards, the sinking ratings that have led to endless Oscar reinventions. The show is too long; no, the show is too desperate to pander to short attention spans. … Hollywood makes too many superhero movies; no, the academy doesn’t nominate enough superhero movies. (A querulous voice from the back row: Why can’t they just bring back Billy Crystal?)" — Ross Douthat, The New York Times, 25 Mar. 2022

    Did you know?

    English speakers have called fretful whiners querulous since late medieval times. The Middle English form of the word, querelose, was an adaptation of the Latin adjective, querulus, which in turn evolved from the Latin verb queri, meaning "to complain." Queri is also an ancestor of the English words [quarrel](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quarrel) and [quarrelsome](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quarrelsome), but it isn't an ancestor of the noun [query](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/query), meaning "question." No need to complain that we're being coy; we're happy to let you know that query descends from the Latin verb quaerere, meaning "to ask."

    • 2 min
    hegemony

    hegemony

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 15, 2024 is: hegemony \hih-JEM-uh-nee\ noun
    Hegemony refers to influence or control over another country, group of people, etc.

    // The two nations have for centuries struggled for regional hegemony.

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


    Examples:

    “Beyond Hollywood’s scrambled economics, one of the biggest threats to its hegemony is social media—TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and X-formerly-known-as-Twitter—with which it has always had an uncomfortable relationship, alternately its victim or master.” — Peter Biskind, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Jan. 2024

    Did you know?

    Hegemony refers to a kind of domination. It was borrowed in the mid-16th century from the Greek word hēgemonia, a noun formed from the verb hēgeisthai, “to lead.” At first hegemony was used specifically to refer to the control once wielded by ancient Greek states; later it was applied to domination by other political actors. By the 19th century, the word had acquired a second sense referring to the social or cultural influence wielded by a dominant entity over others of its kind, a sense employed by design scholar Joshua Langman when describing the use of [found objects](https://bit.ly/4bCWEMs) by French artist [Marcel Duchamp](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcel-Duchamp) (he of notorious [readymade](https://bit.ly/3wgcvQS) Fountain fame) as a means “to question and criticize the values of the artistic hegemony by [eschewing](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eschew) craft entirely.”

    • 1 min
    emulate

    emulate

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 14, 2024 is: emulate \EM-yuh-layt\ verb
    If you emulate someone or something, you try to be like that person or thing. The word is used especially when one is trying to equal or surpass someone in accomplishment or achievement.

    // She grew up emulating her sports heroes.

    // Younger children will often try to emulate the behavior of their older siblings.

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


    Examples:

    “In the present era, [stanning](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stan) has become a regular part of pop and online culture. Online communities celebrate, praise, and emulate music stars such as Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Cardi B, and Megan Thee Stallion.” — Daric L. Cottingham, Essence, 15 Feb. 2023

    Did you know?

    They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but we’ll posit that emulation is even more so. What’s the difference between imitating and emulating? Sometimes not a thing: emulate can be used as a synonym of imitate, as in “a painter who emulates her teacher’s style.” But more often, emulate is about trying to equal or surpass someone you admire by striving to master what they’ve accomplished. The word was adopted in the late 16th century from a form of the Latin word aemulārī, meaning “to vie with; to rival; to imitate.” Imitate was adopted about fifty years earlier from a form of the Latin word imitārī, meaning “to follow as a pattern; to copy.” Emulate emulated its success.

    • 1 min
    cacophony

    cacophony

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 13, 2024 is: cacophony \ka-KAH-fuh-nee\ noun
    A cacophony is a mixture of loud and usually harsh unpleasant sounds. Cacophony can also refer to an incongruous or chaotic mixture.

    // The sounds of shouting added to the cacophony on the streets.

    // A cacophony of aromas wafted through the air.

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

    Examples:

    "In recent years, an array of findings have also revealed an expansive nonhuman soundscape, including: turtles that produce and respond to sounds to coordinate the timing of their birth from inside their eggs; coral larvae that can hear the sounds of healthy reefs; and plants that can detect the sound of running water and the munching of insect predators. Researchers have found intention and meaning in this cacophony, such as the purposeful use of different sounds to convey information." — Sonia Shah, The New York Times, 20 Sept. 2023

    Did you know?

    If you’re hooked on [phonetics](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phonetics), you may know that the Greek word phōnḗ has made a great deal of noise in English. Cacophony comes from a joining of phōnḗ ("sound" or "voice") with the Greek prefix kak- (from kakos, meaning "bad"), so it essentially means "bad sound." Other [phat](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phat) phōnḗ descendants include [symphony](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/symphony), a word that indicates harmony or agreement in sound; [polyphony](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polyphony), referring to a style of musical composition in which two or more independent melodies are juxtaposed in harmony; and [euphony](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/euphony), a word for a pleasing or sweet sound. Kakos is responsible for far fewer English words, but one notable descendent is [kakistocracy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kakistocracy), meaning "government by the worst people," which, we'll be honest, doesn't sound great.

    • 2 min

Customer Reviews

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1.1K Ratings

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Such a great idea for a podcast!
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