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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day podcast

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

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  Merriam-Webster  

Free daily dose of word power from Merriam-Webster's experts

Free daily dose of word power from Merriam-Webster's experts

 

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#10

extemporize

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 7, 2024 is: extemporize • \ik-STEM-puh-ryze\ • verb To extemporize means to do something [extemporaneously] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extemporaneously) —in other words, to improvise. // A good talk show host must be able to extemporize when interviews don’t go as planned. [See the entry >] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extemporize) Examples: “The president was fast on his feet. Sensing an opportunity to extemporize, he looked around the chamber, pleased.” — Robin Abcarian, The Los Angeles Times, 12 Feb. 2023 Did you know? Let’s dive into the essence of extemporize by exploring its origins. (We’ll try not to bore you with too many [extraneous] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extraneous) details.) To extemporize is to say or do something [off-the-cuff] (https://bit.ly/4ax9nPs) ; extemporize was coined by adding the suffix -ize to the Latin phrase ex tempore, meaning “on impulse” or “on the spur of the moment.” (Incidentally, ex tempore was also borrowed wholesale into English with the meaning “in an extemporaneous manner.”) Other descendants of ex tempore include the now rare [extemporal] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extemporal) and [extemporary] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extemporary) —both synonyms of [extemporaneous] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extemporaneous) —and as you have no doubt guessed by now, extemporaneous itself. ... Read more

15 hrs Ago

01 MINS

01:36

15 hrs Ago

#9

plangent

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 6, 2024 is: plangent • \PLAN-junt\ • adjective Something, such as a sound, that is described as plangent is loud, deep, and often expressive of sadness or suffering. The word is a synonym of [plaintive] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plaintive) . // The campers were awoken by the plangent howl of a coyote off in the distance. [See the entry >] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plangent) Examples: “Adjuah sings in a keening, plangent tone, but at one point he pauses to offer a spoken invitation: ‘Listen to the wind,’ he says. ‘The voices calling to you from yesterday.’” — Giovanni Russonello, The New York Times, 30 June 2023 Did you know? Plangent adds power to our poetry and prose: the pounding of waves, the beat of wings, the tolling of a bell, the throbbing of the human heart, a lover’s knocking at the door—all have been described as plangent. The word plangent traces back to the Latin verb plangere, which has two meanings. The first of those meanings, “to strike or beat,” was sometimes used by Latin speakers in reference to striking one’s breast in grief. This led to the verb’s second meaning, “to lament.” The sense division carried over to the Latin adjective plangens and then into English, giving us two distinct meanings of plangent: “pounding” (as in “the plangent roar of waves”) and “expressive of woe, grief, or melancholy.” Like its synonym plaintive, plangent is often used to describe sounds, from bittersweet melodies to the wails of mourners, evoking deep and heartfelt sadness. ... Read more

Yesterday

01 MINS

01:56

Yesterday

#8

proliferate

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 5, 2024 is: proliferate • \pruh-LIF-uh-rayt\ • verb To proliferate is to increase quickly in number or amount. // Problems have proliferated in recent months; every day seems to present a new challenge that needs sorting out. [See the entry >] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proliferate) Examples: “Patches of scrub continue to emerge and then fall away as the canopy of young self-sown trees begins to shade them out. The beavers have created hectares of new open water and channel complexes. Deadwood is ubiquitous. Topsoil continues to grow, and fungi proliferate.” — Isabella Tree, The Book of Wilding: A Practical Guide to Rewilding, Big and Small, 2023 Did you know? Proliferate is a [back-formation] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/back-formation) of proliferation. That means that proliferation came first (we borrowed it from French in the 1700s), and was later shortened to form the verb. Proliferation originally referred to the botanical phenomenon of some plants having buds, flowers, or other parts that are [adventitious] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adventitious) —that is, that arise or occur sporadically or in other than the usual location (e.g. [pitch pines’] (https://bit.ly/4afWl9o) ability to sprout new trees directly from their stumps after a fire). With advances in the study of biology in the 1800s, proliferation came to be used to refer to the rapid and repeated production of [cells] (https://www.britannica.com/science/cell-biology) by division. That sense in turn [begat] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beget) the verb proliferate, which eventually came to be used when anything—whether living (such as yeast) or nonliving (such as data)—quickly increases or multiplies. ... Read more

05 May 2024

02 MINS

02:01

05 May 2024

#7

agrarian

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 4, 2024 is: agrarian • \uh-GRAIR-ee-un\ • adjective Something described as agrarian has to do with farms and farming. // Joan hopes to leave city life behind and move to a more agrarian region where she plans to raise lambs and grow heirloom vegetables. [See the entry >] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/agrarian) Examples: "In an interview, [cultural studies researcher, Toni] Smith said fantasizing about agrarian life is nothing new. History presents cyclical 'back-to-the-land' movements, from America’s early West-settling pioneers to the homesteaders of the Great Depression." — Hannah Macready, Ambrook Research, 17 Aug. 2023 Did you know? Today, an [acre] (https://www.britannica.com/science/acre-unit-of-measurement) is generally considered to be a unit of land measuring 43,560 square feet (4,047 square meters). Before that standard was set, it's believed that an acre represented a rougher measurement: the amount of land that could be plowed in one day with a [yoke] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yoke) of oxen. Both [acre] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acre) and agrarian come from the Latin noun ager and the Greek noun agrós, meaning "piece of land; field." (You can probably guess that [agriculture] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/agriculture) is another descendant.) Agrarian, first used in English in the 16th century, describes things pertaining to the cultivation of fields, as well as to the farmers who cultivate them. ... Read more

04 May 2024

01 MINS

01:44

04 May 2024

#6

melee

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 3, 2024 is: melee • \MAY-lay\ • noun Melee refers to a confused fight or struggle, especially one involving hand-to-hand combat. // What started as a verbal disagreement at the football game soon turned into a general melee involving scores of spectators. [See the entry >] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melee) Examples: "The battle scenes are a Hollywood mishmash of medieval melees, meaningless [cannonades] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cannonade) , and World War I-style infantry advances." — Franz-Stefan Gady, Foreign Policy, 2 Dec. 2023 Did you know? English has no shortage of words for confused and noisy fights, some ( [fray] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fray) , [brawl] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brawl) , [scrap] (https://bit.ly/3J6dR3R) ) more common than others ( [donnybrook] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/donnybrook) , [fracas] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fracas) ). Melee tends to be encountered more often in written rather than spoken English, but it is far from obscure, and has seen increasing use especially in the context of video games featuring some form of hand-to-hand combat. Such games allow players to [mix it up] (https://bit.ly/4cUqA7w) with all manner of rivals and [baddies] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/baddie) from the comfort and safety of their home, with mix being an especially apt word alongside melee: the latter comes from the French word mêlée, which in turn comes from the Old French verb mesler, meaning "to mix." ... Read more

03 May 2024

01 MINS

01:38

03 May 2024

#5

forfend

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 2, 2024 is: forfend • \for-FEND\ • verb Forfend is used in contexts relating to some kind of real or pretended danger or other unpleasantness. In humorous and ironic use, forfend typically appears in the phrase “heaven forfend,” and, like “heaven forbid,” expresses a usually ironic desire that something not happen or be done. In general use, if you forfend something unwanted or undesirable, you ward it off or prevent it; and if you forfend yourself from or against something, you protect or preserve yourself from it. // Heaven forfend that people actually pick up dictionaries and read them! // By studying your dictionary, you may forfend any risk of not knowing the meaning of a word. // To forfend against the prospect of being at a loss for words, we recommend you read the Word of the Day daily. [See the entry >] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forfend) Examples: “Cigarette companies financed armies of letter and op-ed writers, think tank reports, and ‘expert’ testimony promoting the return of DDT. … Big Tobacco fought for the return of DDT, [Elena] Conis argues, because the pesticide made for such ‘a helpful scientific parable, one that, told just right, illustrated the problem of government regulation of private industry gone wrong.’ It was private companies, and not politicians—or, heaven forfend, the people—who should decide what products should be produced, and how.” — Scott W. Stern, The New Republic, 31 May 2022 Did you know? Forfend is an unusual word in that its most commonly used sense is considered [archaic] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archaic) , meaning it survives in English chiefly in specialized uses. When forfend was first used in the 14th century, it meant “to forbid.” It still does but only in phrases, like “heaven forfend” or “God forfend,” that have an exaggeratedly old-timey ring to them. (The use is also typically humorous and/or ironic.) Put another way, substituting forfend for [forbid] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forbid) in any other context would sound strange, as in “students are forfended from using cell phones in the classroom.” Other senses of forfend, including “to protect or preserve” and “to ward off or prevent,” are current, though much less common. The fend part of the word comes from the same Latin source as [defend] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defend) . ... Read more

02 May 2024

02 MINS

02:37

02 May 2024

#4

cohesive

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 1, 2024 is: cohesive • \koh-HEE-siv\ • adjective Something described as cohesive sticks together and forms something closely united. The word is usually used with abstract terms in phrases like "a cohesive social unit" or "a cohesive look/aesthetic." Cohesive can also be used to describe something, such as the design of a room or the plot of a movie, that is [coherent] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coherent) —in other words, logically or consistently ordered. // The couple chose their wedding colors and designs carefully to make sure everything had a cohesive look. // The customer service department is a small but cohesive team. [See the entry >] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cohesive) Examples: "The collection showcases a harmonious blend of modern aesthetics and classic craftsmanship, allowing customers to create cohesive outdoor environments that enhance the beauty of their surroundings." — Business Insider, 16 Mar. 2024 Did you know? The Latin verb haerēre has shown remarkable [stick-to-itiveness] (https://bit.ly/3VJTktg) in influencing the English lexicon, which is fitting for a word that means "to be closely attached; to stick." Among its descendants are [adhere] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adhere) (literally meaning "to stick"), adhere’s relative [adhesive] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adhesive) (a word for sticky substances), [inhere] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inhere) (meaning "to belong by nature or habit"), and even [hesitate] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hesitate) (which implies remaining stuck in place before taking action). In Latin, haerēre teamed up with the prefix co- to form cohaerēre, which means "to stick together." Cohaerēre is the ancestor of cohesive, a word borrowed into English in the early 18th century to describe something that sticks together literally (such as dough or mud) or figuratively (such as a society or sports team). ... Read more

01 May 2024

02 MINS

02:05

01 May 2024

#3

demagogue

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 30, 2024 is: demagogue • \DEM-uh-gahg\ • noun A demagogue is a political leader who tries to get support by making use of popular prejudices, as well as by making false claims and promises and using arguments based on emotion rather than reason. // His opponent called him a bigoted demagogue for demonizing those who don't intend to vote for him. [See the entry >] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demagogue) Examples: “You need an internal guidance system for making decisions. Without one, your choices become heavily influenced by external forces such as peers, television, and demagogues.” — Tom Muha, The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland), 2 Oct. 2021 Did you know? When the ancient Greeks used dēmagōgós (from dêmos, meaning “people,” and -agōgos, “leading”) they meant someone good—a leader who used outstanding oratorical skills to further the interests of the common people. The first known use of demagogue in English comes from the introduction to [Thomas Hobbes’s] (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Hobbes) 1629 translation of a text by the ancient Greek historian [Thucydides] (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thucydides-Greek-historian) : “It need not be doubted, but from such a master Thucydides was sufficiently qualified, to have become a great demagogue, and of great authority with the people.” Alas, the word quickly took a negative turn; within decades it was being used to refer to someone who uses powers of persuasion to sway and mislead. ... Read more

30 Apr 2024

01 MINS

01:51

30 Apr 2024

#2

inviolable

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 29, 2024 is: inviolable • \in-VYE-uh-luh-bul\ • adjective Inviolable is a formal term that is used to describe something too important to be ignored or treated with disrespect. // She considers herself a person with inviolable moral standards. [See the entry >] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inviolable) Examples: "Under international law, humans possess an inviolable right to freedom of thought. As part of this, governments have a duty to create an environment where people can think freely." — Simon McCarthy-Jones, The Conversation, 27 Sept. 2023 Did you know? Inviolable is a [venerable] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/venerable) word that has been with us since the 15th century. Its opposite, [violable] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/violable) ("capable of being or likely to be violated"), appeared in the following century. The 17th century English playwright Shackerley Marmion made good use of violable in A Fine Companion, writing, "Alas, my heart is Tender and violable with the least weapon Sorrow can dart at me." But English speakers have never warmed up to that word the way we have to inviolable, and it continues to be used much less frequently. Both terms descend from the Latin verb violare, which both shares the meaning with, and is an ancestor of, the English word violate. ... Read more

29 Apr 2024

01 MINS

01:46

29 Apr 2024

#1

ken

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 28, 2024 is: ken • \KEN\ • noun Ken refers to someone’s range of perception, knowledge, or understanding, and is most often used in phrases like “beyond/outside/within one’s ken.” // The author advised the aspiring writers in the crowd to develop an authoritative voice by sticking to subjects within their ken. [See the entry >] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ken) Examples: “… I’m still pretty much an amateur when it comes to gardening. Creating showy displays of florals along a pathway or verdant plots of perennials in shady backyard nooks—well, much of that is still beyond my ken. I don’t know my [spurges] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spurge) from my [woodruffs] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woodruff) .” — Larry Cornies, The London (Ontario) Free Press, 3 June 2023 Did you know? Need a word that can encompass all that one perceives, understands, or knows? It’s just ken. Of course, whether someone is a [president] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/video/issa-rae-insecure-word-icons) , writer, physicist, diplomat, journalist, or even a stereotypical [Barbie] (https://bit.ly/4331LSi) , everyone has their own personal ken. So when someone says something is “beyond” it, they’re not admitting to being a [gosling] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gosling) , only that the topic or question at hand is beyond their particular range of knowledge or expertise. Ken appeared on the English horizon in the 16th century referring to the distance bounding the range of ordinary vision at sea (about 20 miles), and would thus have been familiar to [skippers] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skipper) in particular. Its meaning soon broadened, however, to mean “range of vision” or “sight” on land or sea. Today ken rarely suggests literal sight, but rather the extent of what one can metaphorically “see.” And that, as they say, is enough. ... Read more

28 Apr 2024

01 MINS

01:59

28 Apr 2024