play video cynic
Up Next
Title
CANCEL
video cynic
Word History

The History of 'Cynic'

How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.

How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.

Up next

play video cynic
The History of 'Cynic'

 

How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.

play hot mess
Hot Mess

 

Our research turned up two archaic literal meanings

play video ghost words
How a Ghost Word Appeared in the Dictionary

 

An imaginary word that snuck into the dictionary

play video between you and i or me
I vs. Me

 

'Between you and __'? Simple guidance for a tricky pronoun.

play video his or her
Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

 

The awkward case of 'his or her'

play emily brewster and one and the same text graphic
'One in the same' or 'One and the same'?

 

Is it all the same anyway?

play video its vs its
Its vs. It's

 

Some practical guidance, and interesting history, about a common mistake.

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game You can make only 12 words. Pick the best ones!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A crossword with a twist
winning words from the national spelling bee logo
Spelling Bee Quiz Can you outdo past winners of the National Spelli...