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Autumn Words of the Day 2018

(Secret October WOTD Quiz)

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A Pram Through the Nabe: Words Formed by Shortening and Alteration

New words that came from bigger words

Appelbaum: 'Gaslighting' Not a Word

It is a word, though.

How Do You Pronounce 'Vase'?

And is one way more correct than the others?

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On 'Caravan' and Words for People in Movement

A cavalcade of words for travel

Latest Video

How Do You Pronounce 'Vase'?

And is one way more correct than the others?

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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'

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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?

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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

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Alright vs. All Right

Is 'alright' all right?

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The True Story of the Backward Index

These people needed a computer

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Is None Singular or Plural?

Or both? Or neither?

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There, They're, Their

There, there. We'll sort it out.

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Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

The awkward case of 'his or her'

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Sneaked vs. Snuck

How the irregular 'snuck' sneaked into the dictionary

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2015 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

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

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How to Read a French Menu

How to amuse-bouche without begging pardon for your French

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Further vs. Farther

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

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Lay vs. Lie

Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.

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

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

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Fun, Funner, Funnest

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

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2014 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

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

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Webster's Dictionary of 1864

The landmark edition that transformed the way dictionaries are made.

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Old-School Grammar

Many of today's grammar rules can be traced to the opinions of one 18th century writer.

Schwa

The most common vowel sound in English causes many spelling problems.

Cynic

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

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WORD OF THE DAY

tomfoolery

playful or foolish behavior

Test Your Vocabulary

Autumn Words of the Day 2018

Which is a synonym of fugacious?

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Word Winder's CrossWinder

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

TAKE THE QUIZ

Ask the Editors

Word Games