Merriam-Webster Logo
  • Games
  • Word of the Day
  • Grammar
  • Word Finder
  • Slang
  • New Newsletters
  • Wordplay
  • Rhymes
  • Thesaurus
  • Join MWU
    • Games
    • Word of the Day
    • Grammar
    • Wordplay
    • Slang
    • Rhymes
    • Word Finder
    • Newsletters New
    • Thesaurus
    • Join MWU link icon
    • Shop
    • Books link icon
    • Merch link icon
      • Log In
      • Username
      • My Words
      • Recents
      • Account
      • Log Out
Est. 1828
Wordplay

Science & Nature

Medical Words For Everyday Situations

Diagnose your friends' problems

9 Superb Owl Words

Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all? We do!

A Cast of 12 Astrological Words

It's written in the stars

The Many Origin Stories of 'Nerd'

Theories from there to back again

12 Pairs of Commonly Confused Animal Words

The animal words went in two by two, hurrah, hurrah!

7 Luscious, Fruit-Based Idioms

For a touch of sweetness or acidity

7 Common Idioms That Come from Chickens

Don't ask us which came first

12 Bird Names that Sound Like Compliments

From the godwits at your favorite dictionary

Possum vs. Opossum: Is There a Difference?

On a marsupial with various names

'Blue Moon,' 'Wolf Moon,' and Other Moons to Look for Throughout the Year

More moons than you can shake a stick at

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

We’ve seen fire, we’ve seen rain, and we have many words for them

What is a 'coulrophobe' so afraid of?

Unusual Phobias, Vol. 2

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

A bouquet of floral origin stories

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Words for uncommon fears

12 Words for Signs of Spring

Spring is springing

7 Especially Fitting Common Names for Plants

So you don't mix up your Swiss Cheese plants with your Dutchman's Breeches

Fruit vs. Vegetable

Are you sure you know which is what?

When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words (or Phrases) Birds Seem to Be Saying

12 Words That Secretly Come from Body Parts

Anatomy As Etymology

Ten Words from the Harvest

A bumper crop for the feast.

Civil Twilight & Calculating The Day

It's not part of the vampire book series.

How many scruples in a dram?

The origins of 8 units of measurement
1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries.  Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the Day

trepidation

Listen to the pronunciation of trepidation

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Merriam Webster

Learn a new word every day. Delivered to your inbox!

  • Help
  • About Us
  • Advertising Info
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

© 2025 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated