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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.

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The History of 'Cynic'

 

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

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Pictures in the Dictionary

 

The story of those iconic illustrations.

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How Do You Pronounce 'Vase'?

 

And is one way more correct than the others?

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Some Odd Words with ISMO: "Junk in the Trunk"

 

Comedian ISMO on what separates a boot from a trunk

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How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

 

What our editors are looking for when they enter words in Merriam-Webster.

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Why did Yankee Doodle call a feather 'macaroni'?

 

What's with his feathered cap?

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Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

 

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

Games & Quizzes

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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 Pick the best words!
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?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
petit-fours
Name That Dessert! Hope you’ve saved room for some sweet vocabulary.
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