Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster
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jejune
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
11/25/22 • 2 min
5.0
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 25, 2022 is:
jejune \jih-JOON\ adjective
Jejune is a formal word often used as a synonym of juvenile to describe things (such as behaviors, attitudes, etc.) that are immature, childish, or simplistic. It can also mean "uninteresting" or "boring."
// Her rude and jejune remarks about the painting were entirely unbefitting someone of her stature in the art world.
// The movie adaptation employed surreal visual effects to tell the story, making the plot, jejune in the novel, archetypal rather than artless.
Examples:
"These formulations—'rise up or submit,' 'insist on your autonomy'—border on the jejune. Yes, we live in a world of laws, drudgery, interdependence. But we also live in a world rife with real injustice and, like any concept, freedom is always contextual." — William Finnegan, The New York Times, 17 May 2021
Did you know?
Starved for excitement? You won't get it from something jejune. The term comes to us from the Latin word jejunus, which means "empty of food," "hungry," or "meager." When English speakers first used jejune back in the 1600s, they applied it in ways that mirrored the meaning of its Latin parent, lamenting "jejune appetites" and "jejune morsels." Something that is meager rarely satisfies, and before long jejune was being used not only for meager meals or hunger, but also for things lacking in intellectual or emotional substance. It’s possible that the word gained its now-popular "juvenile" or "childish" sense when people confused it with the look-alike French word jeune, which means "young."
5 Listeners
2

nugatory
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
11/17/22 • 2 min
5.0
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 17, 2022 is:
nugatory \NOO-guh-tor-ee\ adjective
Something described as nugatory is of little or no consequence. Nugatory is also used especially in legal contexts to describe something without operative legal effect.
// Most of the criticism of the film in the weeks since its release has been nugatory nonsense.
// The law was unenforced and thus rendered nugatory.
Examples:
“Elsewhere [on Death Cab for Cutie’s latest album], [Ben Gibbard] ... continues his apparent affinity for writing songs about driving on ‘Wheat Like Waves’ and the gorgeously golden ‘Rand McNally,’ named after the now nugatory road atlas books.” — Madeline Roth, The Daily Beast, 27 Aug. 2022
Did you know?
Just because nugatory isn’t the most common word in the English language doesn’t mean it’s trifling. Rather, nugatory is literally trifling because the two words are synonymous, as in “comments too nugatory to merit attention.” Nugatory first appeared in English in the 17th century; it comes from the Latin adjective nugatorius, which can mean not only “trifling” or “frivolous” but also "futile.” This sense carried over into English as well, and so in some contexts nugatory means “ineffective” or “having no force,” as when Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marilynne Robinson invoked “the nugatory value of the contemporary penny.” Nugatory may mean little to some, but we think it’s worth a pretty penny.
4 Listeners
2

leonine
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
11/22/22 • 2 min
5.0
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 22, 2022 is:
leonine \LEE-uh-nyne\ adjective
Leonine means “of, relating to, or resembling a lion.”
// She spent hours in the bathroom trying to detangle her leonine tresses.
Examples:
“As I tried harder and harder ... I began to understand more about what [Fabio] meant at the time, to both me and to his fans. For me, I kind of thought he was just a hood ornament of '90s masculinity. Heroic and leonine, ripped like He-Man but draped in finely tailored Italian linen. There always seemed to be a wind machine plugged in somewhere just out of his frame.” — Jason Sheeler, People.com, 11 Aug. 2021
Did you know?
Hear us roar! Most people or characters described as leonine aren’t cowardly (with one famous exception, of course), but rather noble, strong, regal, or possessed of similarly positive virtues associated with pride-forming big cats. Leonine clawed its way into the English language from the Latin word leo (“lion”), which in turn comes from the Greek word leōn. Today, we have an interesting range of words that relate back to leōn: leopard (leōn + pardos, a Greek word for a panther-like animal); chameleon (leōn + the Greek chamai, meaning “on the ground”); and the names Leo, Leon, and Leonard. But the dancer’s and gymnast’s leotard is not named for its wearer’s cat-like movements. Rather, it was simply named after its inventor, Jules Léotard, a 19th-century French aerial gymnast.
3 Listeners
1

vamoose
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
11/23/22 • 1 min
5.0
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 23, 2022 is:
vamoose \vuh-MOOSS\ verb
Vamoose is an informal word that means "to depart quickly."
// With the sheriff and his posse hot on their tails, the bank robbers knew they had better vamoose.
Examples:
"[Ali S.] Khan's group packed fast and vamoosed on a small airplane, which rose straight into a thrashing thunderstorm." — David Quammen, The New Yorker, May 4, 2020
Did you know?
In the 1820s and '30s, the American Southwest was rough-and-tumble territory—the true Wild West. English-speaking cowboys, Texas Rangers, and gold prospectors regularly rubbed elbows with Spanish-speaking vaqueros in the local saloons, and a certain amount of linguistic intermixing was inevitable. One Spanish term that caught on with English speakers was vamos, which means "let's go." Cowpokes and dudes alike adopted the word, at first using a range of spellings and pronunciations that varied considerably in their proximity to the original Spanish form. But when the dust settled, the version most American English speakers were using was vamoose.
3 Listeners
1

temerity
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
11/21/22 • 1 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 21, 2022 is:
temerity \tuh-MAIR-uh-tee\ noun
Temerity is a formal word that means "unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger or opposition"; it is a synonym of both rashness and recklessness. Temerity can also refer to a rash or reckless act.
// The line between boldness and temerity is sometimes only evident after the consequences have become clear.
// The previous night's temerity had landed the students in detention.
Examples:
"As Jackson sauntered during the ensuing break in play, his chin up defiantly and jaw clenched, James did a double-take at the apparent temerity, his next-play focus transforming into disapproval." — Houston Mitchell, The Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2022
Did you know?
When you’re feeling saucy, there’s no shortage of words in the English language you can use to describe the particular flavor of your metaphorical sauce, from audacity and effrontery to the Yiddish-derived fan favorite chutzpah. If we may be so bold, let us also suggest temerity: it comes from the Latin temere, meaning “recklessly” or “haphazardly,” and is good for suggesting boldness even in the face of danger or likely punishment. Temerity is a formal word, rarely used in casual writing or conversation, but provided you have the cheek to flout this convention, you may be thinking “what have I got to lose?”
3 Listeners
1

marginalia
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
01/25/23 • 2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 25, 2023 is:
marginalia \mahr-juh-NAY-lee-uh\ noun
Marginalia is a plural noun that refers to notes or other marks written in the margins of a text, and to nonessential matters or items.
// The students loved flipping through their literature textbooks to find the marginalia left behind by former students.
// She found the book's treatment of not only the major events but also the marginalia of Scandinavian history fascinating.
Examples:
“The last time I wrote about culling books—six years ago—nostalgia was my biggest obstacle. Just about every book I opened contained some sort of ephemera that stopped me: a bookmark from a long-gone bookstore, a scribble from a mostly-forgotten college class, an old photograph or letter, or, most nostalgic of all, my late father’s signature and marginalia.” — Laurie Hertzel, The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 14 Aug. 2020
Did you know?
In the introduction to his essay titled “Marginalia,” Edgar Allan Poe wrote: “In getting my books, I have always been solicitous of an ample margin; this not so much through any love of the thing in itself, however agreeable, as for the facility it affords me of penciling suggested thoughts, agreements and differences of opinion, or brief critical comments in general.” At the time “Marginalia” was first published in 1844, marginalia was only a few decades old despite describing something—notes in the margin of a text—that had existed for centuries. An older word, apostille (or apostil), refers to a single annotation made in a margin, but that word is rarely used today. Even if you are not, like Poe, simply ravenous for scribbling in your own books, you likely know marginalia as a telltale sign that someone has read a particular volume before you.
3 Listeners

cornucopia
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
11/24/22 • 2 min
5.0
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 24, 2022 is:
cornucopia \kor-nuh-KOH-pee-uh\ noun
A cornucopia, also known as a horn of plenty, is a curved, hollow goat’s horn or similarly shaped receptacle (such as a horn-shaped basket) that is overflowing, especially with fruit and vegetables. The image of a cornucopia is commonly used as decoration and as a symbol of abundance, but the word cornucopia is today more often encountered in its metaphorical use referring to an overflowing abundance, or to a seemingly inexhaustible amount of something.
// The zoo’s new aviary is a veritable cornucopia of color and sound, with scores of different bird species swooping and squawking through the canopy.
Examples:
“When I was 11, I moved to Texas and discovered the cornucopia of packaged options in the chips aisle. I quickly grew fond of Salt and Vinegar in particular, but I missed the sharp flavors of the snacks I’d eaten in Karachi ...” — Mariya Karimjee, Bon Appétit, 20 Apr. 2022
Did you know?
Cornucopia comes from the Late Latin cornu copiae, which translates literally as “horn of plenty.” A traditional staple of feasts, the cornucopia is believed to represent the horn of a goat from Greek mythology. According to legend, it was from this horn, which could be filled with whatever the owner wished, that the god Zeus was fed as an infant by his nurse, the nymph Amalthaea. Later, the horn was filled with flowers and fruits, and given as a present to Zeus. The filled horn (or a receptacle resembling it) has long served as a traditional symbol in art and decoration to suggest a store of abundance. The word first appeared in English in the early 16th century; a century later, it developed the figurative sense of “an overflowing supply.”
3 Listeners
1

extirpate
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
11/20/22 • 2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 20, 2022 is:
extirpate \EK-ster-payt\ verb
Extirpate means “to destroy completely,” and is often—though not exclusively—used in reference to plant and animal populations. It can also be used to mean “to pull up by the root” and “to cut out by surgery.”
// Despite the years-long effort to extirpate it from the landscape, purple loosestrife continues to thrive in the town’s wetlands.
// The district attorney is vowing to extirpate political corruption from City Hall if she is elected mayor.
Examples:
“Peregrine falcons were once extirpated from Missouri due to pesticide damage to eggs and habitat loss. They have been on the state’s endangered species list but are being considered for removal, thanks to a cooperative program by Midwestern state and federal wildlife agencies. Re-introductions and nest boxes placed high on tall buildings in cities or power plant smokestacks have boosted their numbers.” — Brian Dulle, Fox4kc.com, 8 July 2021
Did you know?
You don’t have to dig too deep into the history of extirpate to discover that its roots are in, well, roots (and stumps). Extirpate grew out of a combining of the Latin prefix ex-, meaning “out,” and the Latin noun stirps, “trunk” or “root.” Among the earliest definitions of extirpate in English were “to uproot” and “to clear of stumps,” as well as the broader meaning of “to destroy completely” or “wipe out.” While today we often encounter extirpate in relation to plant and animal species that have been regrettably removed from a specific region or in total, intangibles such as evil or prejudice, for example, may also be extirpated. We hope this helps but if you find yourself stumped the next time you encounter extirpate, just remember we’re rooting for you.
3 Listeners
1

haywire
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
09/19/22 • 2 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 19, 2022 is:
haywire \HAY-wyre\ adverb or adjective
Haywire means “being out of order or having gone wrong” or “emotionally or mentally upset or out of control.” It is often used in the phrase “go haywire.”
// The company's emailing system went haywire and sent out multiple copies of the advertisement to its subscribers.
Examples:
“Something, I suspect, is going haywire in the frying process, an interaction that leads to those off-putting aromas. Is the oil not hot enough, thereby clinging to the [French toast] sticks and leaving behind the flavors of whatever was fried in it previously? Were they fried too long?” — Tim Carman, The Washington Post, 17 Aug. 2022
Did you know?
The noun haywire refers to a type of wire once used in baling hay and sometimes for makeshift repairs. This hurried and temporary use of haywire gave rise to the adjective (and sometimes adverb) haywire. When the adjective was first used in the early 20th century, it was primarily found in the phrase “haywire outfit,” which originally denoted a poorly equipped group of loggers, and then anything that was flimsy or patched together. This led to a “hastily patched-up” sense, which in turn gave us the now-common meaning, “being out of order or having gone wrong.” The “crazy” sense of haywire may have been suggested by the tendency of the relatively weak and rust-prone wire to fail at inopportune times, or to get tangled around legs, or possibly to the disorderly appearance of the temporary repair jobs for which it was used.
2 Listeners

titivate
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
09/13/22 • 1 min
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 13, 2022 is:
titivate \TIH-tuh-vayt\ verb
Titivate means "to make (someone or something) neater or more attractive," and is a synonym of spruce up.
// Her morning routine includes a few minutes spent titivating in front of the mirror.
Examples:
"From the US seafood seasoning Old Bay ... to lapsang souchong salt, there are numerous ways to titivate chips." — Tony Naylor, The Guardian (London), 22 Jan. 2022
Did you know?
Titivate is a fancy way of saying spruce up, smarten up, or spiff up; all mean "to make a person or thing neater or more attractive." Titivate often refers to making small additions or alterations in attire ("titivate the costume with sequins and other accessories"), but it can also be used figuratively, as in "titivating the script for Broadway." The origins of titivate are uncertain, but it may have been formed by combining tidy and renovate. Spiffy, if true.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day have?
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day currently has 818 episodes available.
What topics does Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day cover?
The podcast is about Language Learning, Podcasts, Books, Education and Arts.
What is the most popular episode on Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day?
The episode title 'jejune' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day?
The average episode length on Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day is 2 minutes.
How often are episodes of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day released?
Episodes of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day are typically released every day.
When was the first episode of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day?
The first episode of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day was released on Oct 20, 2020.
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