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 video mischievous nulcear library mispronunciations
'Mispronunciations' That May Be Fine

 

'Mischievous,' 'nuclear,' and other words to pronounce with caution.

play peter-sokolowski-indict-graphic
Video: Why is there a 'c' in 'indict'?

 

And who put it there, anyway?

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

 

An imaginary word that snuck into the dictionary

play video ie vs eg
i.e. vs. e.g.

 

Often used, often confused. Here's some guidance and insight.

play ismo merriam webster one
Some Odd Words with ISMO: "The One-derful Won"

 

Comedian ISMO tries to figure out 'one' and 'two'

play serial comma
The Serial Comma Explained

 

Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma?

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 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
baobab-trees
Name That Tree! A quiz that’s all bark, no bite.
See All