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Est. 1828
Wordplay
For the love of language
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
Why Jaywalking is Called Jaywalking
The shape of the letter J has nothing to do with it
Arts & Culture
Obscure & Fun
Foreign
Games & Hobbies
Insults
Science & Nature
Word History
Popular
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!
Archaic Words We Know from Christmas Songs
You only need to know these words for one month out of the year
11 Words for Misers and Cheapskates
We won't be stingy with them
9 Irregular and Unpredictable Words
Get your pencil ready
Words For Things You Didn't Know Have Names, Vol. 4
Sitzmarks! Jarkmen!! Pronking!!!
"Pettifogger," "Stumblebum," and Others Who Don't Pull Their Weight
We don't doubt they're trying their very best.
8 Words for Witchcraft and Black Magic
Witchcraft, dark magic, and more
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
What Does 'Eighty-Six' Mean?
We won't refuse you service
10 Better Ways to Say Underwear
Get your knickers in a twist
The Changing Meaning of 'Elope'
Read this before you elope. Or 'elope.'
12 Star Wars Words
Enjoy this listicle, you will
The History of 'Nuclear Family'
Getting at the core of it.
See All
Obscure & Fun
Obscure & Fun
'Apricity' and Other Rare Wintry Words
Hiemal, brumation, & rare wintry words
Read
Words About Words
As your friendly dictionary, we know some things about words. We also know lots of words about those words. This is a list of some of them.
Read
Dice, Dice, Baby: 8 Dungeons & Dragons Words
Chaotic and good, like English itself
Read
Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5
So beautiful. So useless.
Read
See All
12 Words from the Wrong Side of the Law
Crime doesn't pay, but vocabulary might
Foreign
See All
17 English Words That Come From Japanese
Some borrowed words don't get returned
All About Latin Plurals
Check your dictionary
8 Words We Stole from French
Spoiler: We stole way more than 8
Digging Up the Latin Roots of 14 Abbreviations
Beyond 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'
Skunk, Bayou, and Other Words with Native American Origins
You've used more than you might think
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Games & Hobbies
See All
'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
The secret top 10 words experts use to win at SCRABBLE
A Player's Guide to 'Q' without 'U' Words
Remember this and win.
19 Palindromes You Might Not Know
Learn some fun vocabulary with these palindromes!
Why 'Love' Means "Nothing"
In tennis. This is about tennis.
What It Means to ‘Touch Base’
Just checking in with it
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Insults
Insults
19 Words for the Cranky and Disagreeable
We're not mad. You're mad.
Read
You Talk Too Much: 8 Words for the Wordy
You can't shut them up, but you can label them
Read
7 Shakespearean Insults to Make Life More Interesting
One for each day of the week
Read
Top 10 Sophisticated Insults
A list we hope you don't find 'insipid'
Read
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Suck-ups, Lickspittles, and Toadeaters: Words for Flatterers and Sycophants
The exact words you need to describe that person at work
Science & Nature
See All
7 Especially Fitting Common Names for Plants
So you don't mix up your Swiss Cheese plants with your Dutchman's Breeches
7 Common Idioms That Come from Chickens
Don't ask us which came first
12 Pairs of Commonly Confused Animal Words
The animal words went in two by two, hurrah, hurrah!
A Cast of 12 Astrological Words
It's written in the stars
'Opossum,' O Lovely 'Possum'
On a marsupial with various names
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Word History
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Slang Goes Legit
What we can learn from the 'language weeds' of 100 years ago
The History of 'Aplomb'
Perfectly balanced and composed
Going Greek: 7 Words from the Greek Alphabet
When English borrows from another alphabet
Clocking a Newer Sense of ‘Clock’
It’s not always a matter of time.
What Does Your 'Gut' Tell You?
And should you listen to it?
See All