ismo-merriam-webster-trunk-boot

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

Comedian ISMO on what separates a boot from a trunk

rows-of-various-emoji

What did you just call me?! A Quiz

Never be caught off guard

Stone Uses 'Crosshairs' In Instagram Post

Roger Stone posts controversial photo

words-of-the-week-february-22-2019

The Good, The Bad, & The Semantically Imprecise - 2/22/19

Words from the week of 2/22/2019

happy-valentines-day-from-merriam-webster

Love Poems for Word Nerds

For you, from us.

Latest Video

ismo-merriam-webster-trunk-boot

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

Comedian ISMO on what separates a boot from a trunk

ismo-merriam-webster-tip

Some Odd Words with ISMO: "People Tipping"

Comedian ISMO on the complexities of the word 'tip'

ismo-merriam-webster-one

Some Odd Words with ISMO: "The One-derful Won"

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

word-of-the-year-2018-woty-behind-the-scenes

2018 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

How we chose 'justice'

How Do You Pronounce 'Vase'?

And is one way more correct than the others?

video-ghost-words

Ghost Word

The story of an imaginary word that managed to sneak past our editors and enter the dictionary.

2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

How we chose 'feminism'

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066

Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

The Serial Comma

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

peter_talk_about_word_of_the_year_2016

2016 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

How we chose 'surreal'

Hot Mess

"The public is a hot mess"

Malaprop

We'll tell you all the perpendiculars

alright-allright-video

Alright vs. All Right

Is 'alright' all right?

backward-index-mystery

The True Story of the Backward Index

These people needed a computer

is-none-singular-or-plural-video

Is None Singular or Plural?

Or both? Or neither?

there-theyre-their-video

There, They're, Their

There, there. We'll sort it out.

video-his-or-her

Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

The awkward case of 'his or her'

sneaked-vs-snuck-video

Sneaked vs. Snuck

How the irregular 'snuck' sneaked into the dictionary

word-of-the-year-2015-video

2015 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Editor Peter Sokolowski talks about our Word of the Year selections.

how-to-read-a-french-menu-video

How to Read a French Menu

How to amuse-bouche without begging pardon for your French

further-vs-farther-video

Further vs. Farther

They started as same word, but their meanings have drifted apart over time.

video-lay-vs-lie

Lay vs. Lie

Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.

video-title-attorney-generals

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

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

fun-funner-funnest

Fun, Funner, Funnest

Why does it sound strange to say 'funner' or 'funnest?'

video-20014-word-of-the-year

2014 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

The inside scoop behind our 2014 Word of the Year selections.

1
2

page 1 of 2

WORD OF THE DAY

chockablock

very full or close together

Test Your Vocabulary

What did you just call me?! A Quiz

If a member of the audience describes your speech as bombastic, does that person mean it is:

pompous and overblown rousing and inspiring

How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!

TAKE THE QUIZ

SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Ask the Editors

Word Games