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Est. 1828

Wordplay

For the love of language

Skibidi, Mog & More: Gen Alpha Slang

Skibidi! Mog!! Rizz!!!

Color Words to Describe Autumn Leaves

Peep these leaves.

Plant Names That Sound Like Insults

Hey, we're all adults here.
  • Arts & Culture
  • Obscure & Fun
  • Foreign
  • Games & Hobbies
  • Insults
  • Science & Nature
  • Word History

Popular

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 3

Lovely, pointless, or both?

Our Best Historical Slang Terms

'Hella' is in hella good company

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words (or Phrases) Birds Seem to Be Saying

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE

10 words expert players use

12 Words Whose History Will Surprise You

They all use this one weird trick (etymology)

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Words With Remarkable Origins, Vol. 2

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

Raise a glass to some full-bodied vocabulary.

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Our maraca shake brings all the hautbois to the yard

Word Choices

Gabrielle Zevin

Novelist

Emily Flake

New Yorker Cartoonist

Celeste Ng

Novelist

Eli Cymet

Video Game Writer/Producer, Cuphead

Emma Straub

Novelist and Children’s Book Author

Arts & Culture

See More

12 Words and Phrases for Romantic Relationships

This list warms the cockles of our hearts

Where Does the Expression 'Throw Someone Under the Bus' Come From?

Let's blame the British

'Gaslighting,' 'Woke,' 'Democracy,' and Other Top Lookups

We know you're going to look these up

Top Banana, Kingpin, and Other Nicknames for Important People

Big wigs, big enchiladas, and big shots

The Left Hand of (Supposed) Darkness

It depends on what side you're coming from.
See More

Obscure & Fun

Obscure & Fun

  • Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 1

    Some may be more useful than others.
  • Top 12 Sophisticated Compliments

    'Urbane,' 'incisive,' and other good things to be
  • 12 Words from the Wrong Side of the Law

    Crime doesn't pay, but vocabulary might
  • Your Favorite Band is in the Dictionary

    10 bands you can look up and queue up
  • See All

Words That are Their Own Opposites

Do I contradict myself?

Foreign

See More

17 Words With No English Equivalent

Unique words from around the globe

10 English Words from Dutch

Learn how to tell your caboodle from your caboose

10 of Our Favourite British Words

Please don't whinge about being knackered, you prat.

'In Vino Veritas' and Other Latin Phrases to Live By

Top 10 Latin Phrases

10 Words from Nahuatl, the Language of the Aztecs

Avocado, chocolate, and more
See More

Games & Hobbies

See More

12 Words From Basketball

Plus a few terms that never quite made it

A Player's Guide to 'Q' without 'U' Words

Remember this and win.

These Are Fighting Words

Common terms that come from boxing and wrestling

Winning Scrabble Words for Everyday People

You don't have to be a pro to play these words.

Know Your Baseball Idioms

'Southpaw,' 'can of corn,' and other phrases
See More

Insults

Insults

  • Not Nice and Too Nice: A Collection of Dysphemisms and Euphemisms

    Words to soothe and annoy
  • Suck-ups, Lickspittles, and Toadeaters: Words for Flatterers and Sycophants

    The exact words you need to describe that person at work
  • Rare and Amusing Insults: Cockalorum, Snollygoster, and More

    How dare you called me a ninnyhammer you pillock!
  • The Clinical History of 'Moron,' 'Idiot,' and 'Imbecile'

    The words have a less-than-savory past
  • See All

Rare and Amusing Insults, Volume 2

Sometimes a 'cacafuego' can be a real 'slubberdegullion'

Science & Nature

See More

7 Luscious, Fruit-Based Idioms

For a touch of sweetness or acidity

12 Pairs of Commonly Confused Animal Words

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

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
See More

Word History

See More

Quick: Read This!

'Quick' once had a very different meaning

What does it mean to 'endorse' a presidential candidate?

It's kind of like "endorsing" a check

Etymologies for Every Day of the Week

The sun, the moon, four gods, and a goddess.

14 Words Inspired by Dogs

A lexicographer's best friend

7 Good Stories That Just Aren't True

No, that's not where that word comes from
See More
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