Nina Fitzpatrick
Is myriad a noun?: Usage Guide
Recent criticism of the use of myriad as a noun, both in the plural form myriads and in the phrase a myriad of, seems to reflect a mistaken belief that the word was originally and is still properly only an adjective. As the entries here show, however, the noun is in fact the older form, dating to the 16th century. The noun myriad has appeared in the works of such writers as Milton (plural myriads) and Thoreau (a myriad of), and it continues to occur frequently in reputable English. There is no reason to avoid it.
Booklist Meridel Le Sueur
Did you know?
You don’t need ten thousand justifications to use myriad as a noun, only one: with more than 400 years of usage history behind it, the noun myriad, as in the phrase “a myriad of,” is a well-established and respectable member of the English language. Still, we understand that “myriad of” raises the hackles of myriad folks who were taught at one point or another that myriad is only to be used as an adjective, and that phrases like “a myriad of emailers vexed about myriad” should be shunned in favor of “myriad emailers vexed about myriad.” Now, to each their own lexical peeves and pleasures, but let it be known that myriad entered the English language in the mid-1500s as a noun, and since its introduction has been used in the senses of “ten thousand,” “a set of ten thousand,” “an immense or indefinitely large number,” and “a great multitude”; furthermore, it has appeared in the works of such writers as Milton, Thoreau, Twain, and DuBois—no slouches when it comes to wielding words. Myriad the adjective is about 200 years younger, but both continue to enjoy wide use today.
Examples of myriad in a Sentence
Michiko Kakutani, New York Times, 22 May 2001
Sectarian Protestantism reinforced both American individualism and the tendency of the society to be self-organizing in a myriad of voluntary associations and communities.
—Francis Fukuyama, Atlantic, May 1999
Out in the barrios, under the nipa palms, he listened to the myriads of humming cicadas and the call of the geckos.
—Nina FitzPatrick, Fables of the Irish Intelligentsia, 1991
To read Marie Corelli, you had to be able to follow several hundred printed words at a time, and there were myriads in England who were up to it.
—Hugh Kenner, A Sinking Island, 1987
… laced his fingers behind his head and stared at the myriads of tiny colored dots that make up darkness.
—John Steinbeck, East of Eden, 1952
There are a myriad of possibilities.
the car can be outfitted with a myriad of options
Adjective
… the more quotations that could be found, the more easily the subtle differences between the (possibly) myriad usages and meanings of any single word could be identified. This is how historical dictionaries are made …
—Simon Winchester, The Meaning of Everything, 2003
The age of white guilt, with its myriad corruptions and its almost racist blindness to minority individuality, may someday go down like the age of racism went down …
—Shelby Steele, Harper's, November 2002
World War II accelerated the progress of science and technology into the microcosm. Scientists and technologists played tag with one another in their search for microscopic control. With mathematics and myriad theories, they defined a new microcosm.
—Joseph A. Amato, Dust, 2000
The old system's problems were myriad.
the myriad problems that today's cities face
Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025
As illustrated at the team’s preseason luncheon, team-building will be important with a myriad of new faces making up the team’s impact and ancillary pieces.
—Hunter Bailey, Charlotte Observer, 30 Oct. 2025
Veronique Greenwood, Time, 30 Oct. 2025
There are myriad potential uses.
—Adam Bai, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for myriad
Cite this Entry
“Myriad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myriad. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
myriad
1 of 2 noun
myriad
2 of 2 adjective
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