Wordplay

 For the love of language

Words Inspired by Dogs

These are a wordsmith's best friend

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Get off your plum duff and check these out

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Words for uncommon fears

Popular

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Brush up your Homer

The Longest Long Words List

21 words with 21 letters or more

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Remember to stay hydrated.

Is “GIF” Pronounced “Jiff” or “Giff”?

Why not both?

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

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

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

And why isn't it 'bury the lead'?

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

A bouquet of floral origin stories

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

10 words expert players use

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

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What's so extra about 'extra-virgin'?

The technical vocabulary hiding in your kitchen cabinet

Ten Kinds of Happiness

Joyful words from around the world

If You Like to Complain About 'Decimate'...

You'll love to hate these other words!

The Opposite of Déjà Vu

When the familiar becomes unrecognizable

What exactly is a 'liberal'?

No one wants a 'servile arts' degree
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Obscure & Fun

Obscure & Fun

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

Some may be more useful than others.

Foreign

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17 English Words That Come From Japanese

Some borrowed words don't get returned

Alcohol & Algebra: Common Words from Arabic

Number 4 might scare you

Schadenfreude and Other German Words Without Translation

Accept no substitutes

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.
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Games & Hobbies

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Why Is the Sport Called ‘Pickleball’?

The origin story is clearer than most sports

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

8 Soccer Words Just for Kicks

Are you ready for some (association) football?

Winning Scrabble Words for Everyday People

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

Insults

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

Words to soothe and annoy

Science & Nature

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12 Pairs of Commonly Confused Animal Words

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

A Journey to the Moon in 12 Words

Read this before attempting a moon shot

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

Amber, Auburn, Crimson and Other Colorful Words for Autumn Foliage

Peep these leaves.
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Word History

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Why do we call it a 'pipe dream'?

Hint: 19th century drug use

How a Word For "Blood" Came to Mean "Optimistic"

The Odd History of "Sanguine"

Much Ado about ‘Folie à deux’

From French psychiatry to the silver screen

10 Words You Don’t Seem to Hear as Much These Days

As chosen by you, the social media scroller!

Words That Turned 100 in 2025

Happy Birthday to our Centenarians
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