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. 13H 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

  2. 1D 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

  3. 2D 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

  4. 3D AGO

    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

  5. 4D AGO

    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

  6. 5D AGO

    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

  7. 6D AGO

    admonish

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 18, 2025 is: admonish \ad-MAH-nish\ verb To admonish someone is to express warning or disapproval towards them, or to urge them to do something. // We were admonished for arriving late to the meeting. // They were admonished to take advantage of the opportunity. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/admonish) Examples: "My parents admonished me and my siblings to stay away from the windows." — Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2023 Did you know? We won't admonish you if you don't know the origins of admonish. This word, along with its archaic synonym [monish](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monish), likely traces back to the Latin verb monēre, meaning "to bring to the notice of," "to remind," and "to warn." Among monēre's other English descendants are [monitor](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monitor), [premonition](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/premonition), [monument](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monument), and (gulp) [monster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monster). Admonishing someone (for, say, being late) hardly risks being labeled a monster, however. While a word like [rebuke](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rebuke) suggests sternness and severity, admonish usually suggests friendly, gentle, or earnest criticizing done in the spirit of counselling and instructing.

    2 min

  8. MAR 17

    limerick

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 17, 2025 is: limerick \LIM-uh-rik\ noun A limerick is a humorous rhyming poem of five lines. // My limerick received a prize for the funniest poem at the open mic night. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/limerick) Examples: "… the play is silly, purposefully stupid and tough for even [Cole] Escola to categorize: 'If I were to call it a farce or a screwball comedy, I feel like actual scholars of comedy would be like, "There's not a single door slam, you idiot!" I would call it … a dirty limerick,' they joked to Variety earlier this fall." — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 25 Nov. 2024 Did you know? A limerick is a short, humorous (and frequently [bawdy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bawdy)) five-line poem with a rhyme scheme of aabba. While the origins of this type of verse are unknown, some believe that the poem owes its name to a group of poets from [Limerick](https://www.britannica.com/place/Limerick-Ireland), a port city in west-central Ireland, who wrote such verses. Others point to a [parlor game](https://bit.ly/4gJ3Cke) in which players sang the chorus of an old soldiers' song with the phrase "will you come up to Limerick?" and then added impromptu verses. Regardless, a limerick’s characteristic rhythm comes from its uses of [anapests](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anapest), metrical feet consisting of two short syllables followed by one long syllable or two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable (as in "unaware"). To wit: "There once was a song from old [Éire](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eire) / Sung by the soldiers living there, / 'Will You Come Up to Limerick?' / Quite possibly did the trick / In naming the limericks we share."

    2 min

  9. MAR 16

    rife

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 16, 2025 is: rife \RYFE\ adjective Rife usually describes things that are very common and often—though not always—bad or unpleasant. Rife is also commonly used in the phrase “rife with” to mean “copiously supplied” or “having a large amount of; full of.” Unlike most adjectives, rife is not used before a noun. // Speculation about who would be sent to the new office had been rife for weeks. // The writer's history was rife with scandal. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rife) Examples: “At a time when TV viewers have infinitely more choices than they have ever had, networks and streaming platforms need to find ways to stand out and to make those viewers feel special. So their overriding goal is to make fans feel as if they’re being brought inside the shows they like. DVD features were once rife with this kind of thing, from behind-the-scenes footage to commentary tracks and blooper reels, all of which made their way straight to YouTube.” — Don Aucoin, The Boston Globe, 2 Jan. 2025 Did you know? English is rife with words that have been handed down to us from Old English—among them, rife. It comes from the Old English adjective rȳfe and first appeared in written form in the 12th century. Its oldest meaning, still in use today, is synonymous with widespread and prevalent; it's more likely, however, than either of those to describe negative things, as in “corruption and greed were rife in City Hall.” Most often, rife is used alongside with to mean “abounding.” Although rife can be appropriately used for good or neutral things in this sense (and all senses), as in the first sentence of this paragraph, like its synonym and fellow Old English descendant [lousy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lousy) (from the Old English noun lūs, meaning “louse”), it tends to describe things one wishes weren’t in such copious supply.

    2 min

  10. MAR 15

    stratagem

    Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 15, 2025 is: stratagem \STRAT-uh-jum\ noun A stratagem is a trick or plan for deceiving an enemy or for achieving a goal. // They devised various stratagems to get the cat into the carrier, but the feisty feline was wise to them all. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stratagem) Examples: "In one illustration of the mashup of sacred and superstitious, [author Tabitha] Stanmore describes a 'trial by combat' ... to win Sherborne Castle. The devious bishop sewed 'prayers and charms' inside his fighter's coat to give him an edge. The stratagem was discovered, but the cunning cleric won the castle and kept his miter." — Liesl Schillinger, The New York Times, 7 July 2024 Did you know? A stratagem is any clever scheme—sometimes one that's part of an overall [strategy](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strategy) (i.e., a carefully prepared plan of action). The word stratagem entered English in the 15th century and was originally used in reference to some [artifice](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/artifice), such as a military plan or maneuver, that was designed to deceive or outwit the enemy. This military sense can be traced back to the word's Greek ancestor stratēgein, meaning "to act as a general." Stratēgein, in turn, comes from stratēgos (meaning "general"), which comes from stratos ("camp" or "army") and agein ("to lead"). Stratēgos is an ancestor of strategy as well; that word arrived in English more than a century after stratagem.

    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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