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Est. 1828
Wordplay
For the love of language
Pilfer: How to Play and Win
Welcome to our newest word game
Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 4
More words, more beautiful, more useless
9 Other Words for Beautiful
Here are some additional words for calling something lovely
Arts & Culture
Obscure & Fun
Foreign
Games & Hobbies
Insults
Science & Nature
Word History
Popular
8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments
Our maraca shake brings all the hautbois to the yard
10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)
Look what you made us do
9 Superb Owl Words
Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all? We do!
10 Words for Lesser-Known Games and Sports
Are you ready for some stoolball?
Your Favorite Band is in the Dictionary
10 bands you can look up and queue up
Etymologies for Every Day of the Week
The sun, the moon, four gods, and a goddess.
9 Irregular and Unpredictable Words
Get your pencil ready
Words for Lazy People and Laziness
Indolence, Malingerer, Draffsack: the right word for when you just don't have the energy
Word Choices
Gabrielle Zevin
Novelist
Emily Flake
New Yorker Cartoonist
Celeste Ng
Novelist
Eli Cymet
Video Game Writer/Producer, Cuphead
Emma Straub
Novelist and Children’s Book Author
Arts & Culture
See All
10 Better Ways to Say Underwear
Get your knickers in a twist
The Words of the Week - June 14
Lookups from cricket, basketball, and politics
12 Words and Phrases for Romantic Relationships
This list warms the cockles of our hearts
Where Does the Expression 'Throw Someone Under the Bus' Come From?
Let's blame the British
'Gaslighting,' 'Woke,' 'Democracy,' and Other Top Lookups
We know you're going to look these up
See All
Obscure & Fun
Obscure & Fun
30 Ways to Tell the Future
Let us know if any of these work for you
Read
Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 2
More great words, many quite pointless.
Read
12 Words from the Wrong Side of the Law
Crime doesn't pay, but vocabulary might
Read
Another Ten Ways to Improve Your Vocabulary
Simple But Intelligent Word Choices, Vol. 3
Read
See All
Your Favorite Band is in the Dictionary
10 bands you can look up and queue up
Foreign
See All
10 English Words from Dutch
Learn how to tell your caboodle from your caboose
10 of Our Favourite British Words
Please don't whinge about being knackered, you prat.
'In Vino Veritas' and Other Latin Phrases to Live By
Top 10 Latin Phrases
10 Words from Nahuatl, the Language of the Aztecs
Avocado, chocolate, and more
A Guide to the Names of French Sauces
17 saucy terms (and how to say them)
See All
Games & Hobbies
See All
'Slew-foot', 'Deke', and 10 More Words from Hockey
Because it's the Cup.
Are You Ready for Some Football (Words)?
So you can do more than smile and nod when talking about the big game
The Scoop on 'The Proof Is in the Pudding'
A delicious question
Why 'Love' Means "Nothing"
In tennis. This is about tennis.
12 Words From Basketball
Plus a few terms that never quite made it
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Insults
Insults
Not Nice and Too Nice: A Collection of Dysphemisms and Euphemisms
Words to soothe and annoy
Read
Rare and Amusing Insults, Volume 3
Useful words for everyday interactions
Read
Suck-ups, Lickspittles, and Toadeaters: Words for Flatterers and Sycophants
The exact words you need to describe that person at work
Read
Rare and Amusing Insults: Cockalorum, Snollygoster, and More
How dare you called me a ninnyhammer you pillock!
Read
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Better Ways to Say "This Sucks"
Your day is the worst. Your vocabulary is the best.
Science & Nature
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7 Common Idioms That Come from Chickens
Don't ask us which came first
12 Bird Names that Sound Like Compliments
From the godwits at your favorite dictionary
'Opossum,' O Lovely 'Possum'
On a marsupial with various names
'Blue Moon,' 'Wolf Moon,' and Other Moons to Look for Throughout the Year
More moons than you can shake a stick at
What Is a 'Coulrophobe' So Afraid Of?
Unusual Phobias, Vol. 2
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Word History
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7 Good Stories That Just Aren't True
No, that's not where that word comes from
10 Common Words with Military Origins
'Skedaddle', 'ginormous', and more
10 Words You Don’t Seem to Hear as Much These Days
As chosen by you, the social media scroller!
Why Did Yankee Doodle Call a Feather 'Macaroni'?
What's with his feathered cap?
Compound Words That Used to Make a Lot More Sense
How 'jack' met 'pot.' How 'wed' met 'lock.'
See All