Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 17, 2019 is: smithereens \smih-thuh-REENZ\ plural noun :fragments, bits Examples: "For the Soviet Union, it didn't matter that Luna 2, which became the first spacecraft to reach the moon, had been smashed into smithereens. The point was to get there first—to mark territory." — Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 3 Jan. 2019 "Diagnosed at around age 5 with optic...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 16, 2019 is: encroach \in-KROHCH\ verb 1 : to enter by gradual steps or by stealth into the possessions or rights of another 2 : to advance beyond the usual or proper limits Examples: "The house had been abandoned for years, with peeling stucco, a half-buried swimming pool, the jungle encroaching on every side." — Paula McLain, Town & Country, August...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 15, 2019 is: two-bit \TOO-BIT\ adjective 1 : cheap or trivial of its kind : petty, small-time 2 : of the value of two bits Examples: "In 1956, he published Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems at City Lights Books, which was then, [Lawrence] Ferlinghetti says, both a one-room bookshop and a 'two-bit poetry press' in San Francisco." — Ira Silverberg, The...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 14, 2019 is: animadversion \an-uh-mad-VER-zhun\ noun 1 : a critical and usually censorious remark — often used with on 2 : adverse criticism Examples: "Some of his contemporaries and erstwhile friends, meanwhile, displayed considerable frankness in what they wrote. They did not count on Hemingway reading their animadversions on his character and talents...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 13, 2019 is: zero-sum \ZEER-oh-SUM\ adjective : of, relating to, or being a situation (such as a game or relationship) in which a gain for one side entails a corresponding loss for the other side Examples: "Among the greatest risks posed by a new recession is that governments may engage in a zero-sum war for spending. Unable to overcome the technical and...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 12, 2019 is: delate \dih-LAYT\ verb 1 : accuse, denounce 2 : report, relate Examples: Hepzibah was brought to trial after being delated for the practice of witchcraft. "Persons who are delated must first swear to tell the truth concerning themselves and others; if they confess, the judge proceeds accordingly." — H. Ansgar Kelly, Speculum, October 2018 Di...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 11, 2019 is: bathetic \buh-THET-ik\ adjective : characterized by triteness or sentimentalism Examples: "The TV people inevitably reduce history to a series of bathetic tropes: the flag waving in slow motion, the rescued puppy, the evacuee given the star treatment of American Idol." — Matthew Power, Harper's, December 2005 "A vein of knowingness runs thro...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 10, 2019 is: newspeak \NOO-speek\ noun, often capitalized : propagandistic language marked by euphemism, circumlocution, and the inversion of customary meanings Examples: "Remember that in 1984, totalitarian newspeak is created not through elaborate sentences and jargon, but through cutting words out of the dictionary and simplifying grammar. Clear, tran...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 9, 2019 is: cap-a-pie \kap-uh-PEE\ adverb : from head to foot Examples: The birthday girl—dressed cap-a-pie as a princess, from tiara to sequined slippers—waited excitedly for her guests to arrive. "When they all appear at the elegant ball for the Prince of Wales, the men's outfits outshine the women's and the villain of the story, the French fanatic Cha...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 8, 2019 is: shard \SHAHRD\ noun 1 a : a piece or fragment of a brittle substance; broadly : a small piece or part : scrap b : shell, scale; especially : elytron 2 : a fragment of a pottery vessel found on sites and in refuse deposits where pottery-making peoples have lived 3 : highly angular curved glass fragments of tuffaceous sediment Examples: There w...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 7, 2019 is: Mirandize \muh-RAN-dyze\ verb : to recite the Miranda warnings to (a person under arrest) Examples: "Miranda warnings only kick in if you're going to interrogate a suspect. And so if they didn't Mirandize him, and they didn't ask him any questions, that wouldn't be a problem at all. The remedy for failing to Mirandize someone is that their st...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 6, 2019 is: abecedarian \ay-bee-see-DAIR-ee-un\ adjective 1 a : of or relating to the alphabet b : alphabetically arranged 2 : rudimentary Examples: The children recited an abecedarian chant, beginning with "A is for apple" and ending with "Z is for zebra." "Aficionados of Sue Grafton's popular detective novels starring Kinsey Millhone will not be disapp...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 5, 2019 is: leviathan \luh-VYE-uh-thun\ noun 1 a often capitalized Leviathan : a sea monster defeated by Yahweh in various scriptural accounts b : a large sea animal 2 capitalized Leviathan : the political state; especially : a totalitarian state having a vast bureaucracy 3 : something large or formidable Examples: "Fossils of the ancient leviathan were...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 4, 2019 is: feisty \FYE-stee\ adjective 1 chiefly Southern US and Midland US a : full of nervous energy : fidgety b : touchy, quarrelsome   c : exuberantly frisky 2 : having or showing a lively aggressiveness : spunky Examples: "She's feisty. She's bawdy. She's bodacious.... She's a bit of a wild child." — Vicki Lawrence, quoted in The New York...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 3, 2019 is: sentient \SEN-shee-unt\ adjective 1 : responsive to or conscious of sense impressions 2 : having or showing realization, perception, or knowledge : aware 3 : finely sensitive in perception or feeling Examples: "Frightened of the potential that a vast automated intelligence represents, we often portray sentient intelligences as the equivalent...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 2, 2019 is: vox populi \VOKS-POP-yoo-lye\ noun : popular sentiment Examples: "As has increasingly been the case in the six years since officials instituted a fan-voting component in 2012, acts ultimately chosen for induction also strongly reflect the vox populi: Def Leppard won that balloting this year, collecting more than 500,000 votes among the total...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 1, 2019 is: gormless \GORM-lus\ adjective chiefly British : lacking intelligence : stupid Examples: "It would be difficult to think of many things more gormless than driving a car while blindfolded…." — Fergus Kelly, The Express, 16 Jan. 2019 "On screen, Laurel played gormless underling to Hardy's finicky little king. Off screen, though, the roles w...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 28, 2019 is: billion \BILL-yun\ noun 1 US : a number equal to 1,000 million; also, British : a number equal to 1,000 milliard 2 : a very large number Examples: If you were to count to a billion at the rate of one number per second, it would take you over 31 and a half years to finish. "White dwarf stars start off extremely hot, but they no longer gene...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 27, 2019 is: grift \GRIFT\ verb 1 : to obtain (money) illicitly (as in a confidence game) 2 : to acquire money or property illicitly Examples: The guidebook warns that the city's con artists grift millions of dollars from unwary tourists annually. "He's somebody that lived and grifted, lived for the day. As soon as he got any money from some shady dea...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 26, 2019 is: avuncular \uh-VUNK-yuh-ler\ adjective 1 : suggestive of an uncle especially in kindliness or geniality 2 : of or relating to an uncle Examples: At 18 years her senior, May's brother was a steadying force in her life, supportive and avuncular. "Today's generation of fans knew [Stan] Lee as the avuncular elder statesman who regaled packed h...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 25, 2019 is: impetus \IM-puh-tus\ noun 1 a : a driving force : impulse b : incentive, stimulus c : stimulation or encouragement resulting in increased activity 2 : the property possessed by a moving body in virtue of its mass and its motion — used of bodies moving suddenly or violently to indicate the origin and intensity of the motion Examples: The h...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 24, 2019 is: sequester \sih-KWESS-ter\ verb 1 : to set apart : segregate 2 : to seize by authority of a writ Examples: The reality series will feature ten celebrity contestants who will be sequestered in a haunted mansion for twelve weeks. "Typically, a judge makes the decision to sequester a jury, often when there is risk that outside interference co...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 23, 2019 is: chockablock \CHAH-kuh-blahk\ adjective 1 : brought close together 2 : very full Examples: "The one-square-mile borough is chockablock with shops, restaurants, small businesses, and a bustling downtown." — Katie Park, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 13 Jan. 2019 "The release schedule for the next few months of music is chockablock with new voic...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 22, 2019 is: minion \MIN-yun\ noun 1 : a servile dependent, follower, or underling 2 : one highly favored : idol 3 : a subordinate or petty official Examples: The senior executive has a small platoon of minions to run both personal and business errands for him. "Smartphones make it easier for managers to change their minds at the last moment: for exam...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 21, 2019 is: hoopla \HOO-plah\ noun 1 : excited commotion : to-do 2 : exaggerated or sensational promotion or publicity : ballyhoo Examples: "Ideas change as data accumulate. If future evidence causes me to change my mind again, that's okay. That's how the scientific method works, always revising what we thought we knew, eventually casting aside the e...