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Word History

The History of 'Cynic'

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

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

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The History of 'Cynic'

 

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

play video how a word gets into the dicionary
How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

 

What our editors are looking for when they enter words in Merriam-Webster.

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An Abbreviated History of American English Spelling

 

Soop, wimmen, and headake did not make the cut

play video old school grammar humorsome
Old-School Grammar

 

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

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Hopefully

 

We believe the popular usage of this word is correct

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Is It 'day today' or 'day-to-day'?

 

What about Day Tomorrow?

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Sneaked vs. Snuck

 

How the irregular 'snuck' sneaked into the dictionary

Games & Quizzes

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Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
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Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
puzzle-piece-road
Missing Link Quiz February 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
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