play video cynic
Up Next
Title
CANCEL
video cynic
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.

Up next

play video cynic
The History of 'Cynic'

 

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

play video literally
Literally

 

A word that (literally) drives people nuts

play further vs farther video
Further vs. Farther

 

They started as same word, but their meanings have drifted apart over time.

play video its vs its
Its vs. It's

 

Some practical guidance, and interesting history, about a common mistake.

play body parts video
When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

 

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

play video soup vs soop
An Abbreviated History of American English Spelling

 

Soop, wimmen, and headake did not make the cut

play video ghost words
How a Ghost Word Appeared in the Dictionary

 

An imaginary word that snuck into the dictionary

Games & Quizzes

See All
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?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
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
spelunker-silhouette
People of Interest Quiz Can you tell the "sommeliers" from the "spelunkers"?
See All