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Est. 1828
Wordplay
For the love of language
10 Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
Polly wanna ask what you meant by that, exactly?
Eavesdrop, Fiasco, and 8 More Words with Surprising Origins
Including some trivia on ‘trivia’
'When Pigs Fly' and Other Barnyard Idioms
24 down-home turns of phrase
Arts & Culture
Obscure & Fun
Foreign
Games & Hobbies
Insults
Science & Nature
Word History
Popular
The Words of the Week - Mar. 22
Lookups from politics, the seasons, and Saint Patrick's Day
12 Words for Signs of Spring
Springan is icumen in
9 Superb Owl Words
Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all? We do!
'Gaslighting,' 'Woke,' 'Democracy,' and Other Top Lookups
We know you're going to look these up
10 Words for Lesser-Known Games and Sports
Are you ready for some stoolball?
Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
Get off your plum duff and check these out
Etymologies for Every Day of the Week
The sun, the moon, four gods, and a goddess.
Words for Lazy People and Laziness
Indolence, Malingerer, Draffsack: the right word for when you just don't have the energy
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 All
Top Banana, Kingpin, and Other Nicknames for Important People
Big wigs, big enchiladas, and big shots
Merriam-Webster's Short List of Gender and Identity Terms
In case you (or someone you know) has questions about what they mean
Why Do We Park in the Driveway and Drive on the Parkway?
The answer to one of life's big questions
Bait and Switch: 10 Misleading Words for Foods
There's a reason 'mountain oysters' aren't on the seafood menu, friend
Pop Rhetoric: Our Favorites
Rhetorical devices in pop songs
See All
Obscure & Fun
Obscure & Fun
Fan Favorites: Your Most Liked Words of the Day 2023
This is a list of the top ten Words of the Day that made you learn, laugh, and look up words a little more in 2023
Read
Uncanny, Preternatural Monsters
We bring you the strangest, most elusive beasts in the dictionary.
Read
8 Delicious Words for Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables
When we go loquat, we also go salsify
Read
10 Words for Uncommon Colors
Color names taken from paintings, flowers, fleas & more
Read
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12 Words from the Wrong Side of the Law
Crime doesn't pay, but vocabulary might
Foreign
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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
A Guide to the Names of French Sauces
17 saucy terms (and how to say them)
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Games & Hobbies
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'Slew-foot', 'Deke', and 10 More Words from Hockey
Because it's the Cup.
Are You Ready for Some Football (Words)?
So you can do more than smile and nod when talking about the big game
The Scoop on 'The Proof Is in the Pudding'
A delicious question
Why 'Love' Means "Nothing"
In tennis. This is about tennis.
12 Words From Basketball
Plus a few terms that never quite made it
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Insults
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Better Ways to Say "This Sucks"
Your day is the worst. Your vocabulary is the best.
Not Nice and Too Nice: A Collection of Dysphemisms and Euphemisms
Words to soothe and annoy
Rare and Amusing Insults, Volume 3
Useful words for everyday interactions
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!
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Science & Nature
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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
'Opossum,' O Lovely 'Possum'
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
What Is a 'Coulrophobe' So Afraid Of?
Unusual Phobias, Vol. 2
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Word History
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10 Common Words with Military Origins
'Skedaddle', 'ginormous', and more
10 Words You Don’t Seem to Hear as Much These Days
As chosen by you, the social media scroller!
Why Did Yankee Doodle Call a Feather 'Macaroni'?
What's with his feathered cap?
Compound Words That Used to Make a Lot More Sense
How 'jack' met 'pot.' How 'wed' met 'lock.'
7 Run-Down Words That Have Seen Better Days
They've taken a hit but are still standing.
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