Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 1, 2025 is: ostracize • \AH-struh-syze\  • verb To ostracize someone is to exclude them from a group by the agreement of the group's members. // She was ostracized by her community after refusing to sign the petition. See the entry > Examples: "Telling stories with affection and noodging, [comedian Sarah] Silverman has always been encouraged by her family, who embraced rather than ostracized her for revealing family secrets on the way to reaping howls of laughter." — Thelma Adams, The Boston Globe, 19 May 2025 Did you know? In ancient Greece, citizens whose power or influence threatened the stability of the state could be exiled by a practice involving voters writing that person's name down on a potsherd—a fragment of earthenware or pottery. Those receiving enough votes would then be subject to temporary exile from the state. Ostracize comes from the Greek verb ostrakízein (itself from the noun óstrakon meaning "potsherd"), used in 5th century Athens for the action of banishing someone by way of such a vote. Someone ostracized today is not exiled, but instead is excluded from a group by the agreement of the group's members.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 31, 2025 is: hobgoblin • \HAHB-gahb-lin\  • noun A hobgoblin is a mischievous goblin that plays tricks in children’s stories. When used figuratively, hobgoblin refers to something that causes fear or worry. // This Halloween we were greeted at our door by werewolves, mummies, and a wide assortment of sweet-toothed hobgoblins. See the entry > Examples: “Vampires and zombies took a big bite out of the horror box office in Sinners and 28 Years Later, and with Del Toro’s Frankenstein hitting theaters next week, it would seem that a return to classic marquee monsters is one of the stories of this summer’s movie season. But there’s one old-school hobgoblin that’s lurking around the edges of this narrative, omnipresent, repeated across a number of notable new titles, but still somehow avoiding the limelight: the witch ...” — Payton McCarty-Simas, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Aug. 2025 Did you know? While a goblin is traditionally regarded in folklore as a grotesque, evil, and malicious creature, a hobgoblin tends to be more of a playful troublemaker. (The character of Puck from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream might be regarded as one.) First appearing in English in the early 1500s, hobgoblin combined goblin (ultimately from the Greek word for “rogue,” kobalos) with hob, a word from Hobbe (a nickname for Robert) that was used both for clownish louts and rustics and in fairy tales for a mischievous sprite or elf. The American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson famously applied the word’s extended sense in his essay Self-Reliance: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 30, 2025 is: truculent • \TRUCK-yuh-lunt\  • adjective Truculent describes a person who is easily annoyed and eager to argue or fight. It can also describe the mood or attitude of such a person. // The approach of multiple deadlines had put me in a truculent mood, and I could tell my colleagues were avoiding me. See the entry > Examples: “It’s the holidays, and strings of gaudy rainbow lights twinkle from gables. In cozy living rooms, the elders doze in their chairs while middle-aged siblings bicker and booze it up around the dining table. Little kids squirm in makeshift beds trying to stay awake for Santa, while truculent teenagers sneak out into the suburban night to do secret teenager things.” — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 24 May 2024 Did you know? English speakers adopted truculent from Latin in the mid-16th century, trimming truculentus, a form of the Latin adjective trux, meaning “savage,” and keeping the word’s meaning. Apparently in need of a new way to describe what is cruel and fierce, they applied truculent both to brutal things (wars, for example) and people (such as tyrants). Eventually even a plague could be truculent. In current use, though, the word has lost much of its etymological fierceness. It now typically describes the sort of person who is easily annoyed and eager to argue, or language that is notably harsh.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 29, 2025 is: deliquesce • \del-ih-KWESS\  • verb Deliquesce can mean "to dissolve or melt away" or, in reference to some fungal structures (such as mushroom gills), "to become soft or liquid with age or maturity." // The mushrooms deliquesced into an inky fluid. See the entry > Examples: "He would mould his figures in full in wax, then take a hot knife and—like a metaphysical surgeon—cut away triangles, rhomboids, flaps and scraps, until only a latticework was left. These new shapeshifting figures comprised more gaps than joins: bodies in the delicate, arduous process of shedding their skins, scattering into metal petals, being eroded and deliquesced. Things were freshly able to pass through these painstakingly hard-to-cast bronzes: light, air, sight." — Robert Macfarlane, Apollo, 1 May 2025 Did you know? Deliquesce comes from the prefix de- ("from, down, away") and a form of the Latin verb liquēre, meaning "to be fluid." Things that deliquesce, it could be said, turn to mush in more ways than one. In scientific contexts, a substance that deliquesces absorbs moisture from the atmosphere until it dissolves in the absorbed water and forms a solution. When plants and fungi deliquesce, they lose rigidity as they age. When deliquesce is used in non-scientific contexts, it is often in a figurative or humorous way to suggest the act of "melting away" under exhaustion, heat, or idleness, as in "teenagers deliquescing in 90-degree temperatures."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 28, 2025 is: menagerie • \muh-NAJ-uh-ree\  • noun Menagerie refers to a collection of animals kept especially to be shown to the public, as well as a place where such animals are kept. It can also refer figuratively to any varied mixture of things. // The aviary featured a menagerie of exotic birds. // The space is eclectically furnished with a menagerie of flea market finds. See the entry > Examples: “The creatures are usually found hanging from phones or handbags ... or clutched as a kind of pet. They come in a menagerie of more than three hundred collectible forms. They can be matched to a personal style or mood: pink fur for when you’re feeling flirty; glowing red eyes for a bit of an edge ...” — Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 20 Aug. 2025 Did you know? Back in the days of Middle French, ménagerie meant “the management of a household or farm” or “a place where animals are tended.” When English speakers adopted menagerie in the 1600s, they applied it specifically to places where wild and often also foreign animals were kept and trained for exhibition, as well as to the animals so kept. This second meaning was eventually generalized to refer to any varied mixture, especially one that includes things that are strange or foreign to one’s experience.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 27, 2025 is: acerbic • \uh-SER-bik\  • adjective Something described as acerbic is sharply or bitingly critical, sarcastic, or ironic in temper, mood, or tone. // The comedian draws crowds that appreciate his acerbic wit. See the entry > Examples: "Whether she's giving a sarcastic eye-roll, tossing off an acerbic zinger, or seducing with a come-hither stare, [actress Jennifer] Simard intimately understands the art of underplaying." — Christopher Wallenberg, The Boston Globe, 1 June 2025 Did you know? English speakers created acerbic in the 19th century by combining the adjective acerb with the suffix -ic-. Acerb had already been around for a couple centuries, but for most of that time it had been used only to describe foods with a sour taste. (Acerb is still around today, but now it's simply a less common synonym of acerbic.) Acerbic and acerb ultimately come from the Latin adjective acerbus, which can mean "harsh" or "unpleasant." Another English word that comes from acerbus is exacerbate, which means "to make more violent or severe."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 26, 2025 is: cognoscente • \kahn-yuh-SHEN-tee\  • noun Cognoscente refers to a person with expert knowledge in a subject. It is usually encountered in its plural form, cognoscenti, and preceded by the. // The audience at the club, though small, was full of writers, musicians, and other noteworthy members of the jazz cognoscenti. See the entry > Examples: "Even as [Ray] Bradbury was embraced by the New York cognoscenti—traveling to the city in the fall of '46, drawing the attention of Truman Capote, meeting Gore Vidal, dancing with Carson McCullers at a Manhattan party—Mars beckoned. Yet he would not dare tell his New York associates, for fear of being laughed out of the room." — Sam Weller, LitHub.com, 28 Apr. 2025 Did you know? Cognoscente and connoisseur—both terms for those in the know—are more than synonyms; they’re also linguistic cousins. Both terms descend from the Latin verb cognōscere, meaning "to know," and they’re not alone. You might guess that cognizance and cognition are members of the cognōscere clan. Do you also recognize a family resemblance in recognize? Can you see through the disguise of incognito? Did you have a premonition that we would mention precognition? Cognoscente itself came to English by way of Italian and has been a part of the language since the late 1700s.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 25, 2025 is: wreak • \REEK\  • verb Wreak means “to cause something very harmful or damaging.” It is often used with on or upon. // The virus wreaked havoc on my laptop. See the entry > Examples: “Ours is a geography of cataclysm: Santa Anas wreak their psychic wrath; the odor of disaster seeps from the street like that sulfurous egg smell of the La Brea Tar Pits.” — John Lopez, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Sept. 2025 Did you know? In its early days, wreak was synonymous with avenge, a meaning exemplified when Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus proclaims “We will solicit heaven, and move the gods / To send down Justice for to wreak our wrongs.” This sense is now archaic, but the association hasn't been lost: although wreak is today most often paired with havoc, it is also still sometimes paired with words like vengeance and destruction. We humbly suggest you avoid wreaking any of that, however, no matter how badly you may crave your just deserts.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 24, 2025 is: rancid • \RAN-sid\  • adjective Rancid usually describes something edible that has a strong and unpleasant smell or taste because it is no longer fresh. In figurative use, rancid describes things that are very distasteful or offensive. // The corpse flower, which is the largest known individual flower of any plant species, stays open five to seven days and emits a rancid odor. See the entry > Examples: "A great oil should smell green, fresh, alive. Give it a sniff before pouring: Even once-vibrant olive oils can start to lose their aroma after a while. If the oil smells bland, it's best for sautéing, roasting or baking rather than finishing. If it smells rancid (or waxy), toss it." — Andy Baraghani, The New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025 Did you know? Rancid and putrid and fetid—oh my! All three words are used to describe unpleasant smells and tastes, and each traces its roots to a "stinky" Latin word: rancid can be traced back to rancēre; the root of putrid shares an ancestor with putēre; and fetid comes from foetēre—all verbs meaning "to stink." Not long after entering the language in the early 17th century, rancid also developed a second, figurative sense which is used for non-gustatory and non-olfactory offenses, as in "rancid hypocrisy."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 23, 2025 is: litany • \LIT-uh-nee\  • noun Litany usually refers to a long list of complaints, problems, etc. It can also refer to a sizable series or set, a lengthy recitation, a repetitive chant, or a particular kind of call-and-response prayer. // Among the television critic’s litany of complaints about the new series is the anachronistic costume design. See the entry > Examples: “Out spilled the litany of all the names of all the things you thought I still feared: A big, bad wolf, a two-headed snake, a balding hyena, a beast dropped from the sky, an earthquake, a devil with red bells around its neck. Your words were steady, steeped in the old stories, but my eyes flicked to the window, unafraid. I was too old for easy monsters.” — Raaza Jamshed, What Kept You?: Fiction, 2025 Did you know? How do we love the word litany? Let us count the ways. We love its original 13th century meaning, still in use today, referring to a call-and-response prayer in which a series of lines are spoken alternately by a leader and a congregation. We love how litany has developed in the intervening centuries three figurative senses, and we love each of these as well: first, a sense meaning “repetitive chant”; next, the “lengthy recitation” sense owing to the repetitious—and sometimes interminable—nature of the original litany; and finally, an even broader sense referring to any sizeable series or set. Though litanies of this third sort tend to be unpleasant, we choose today to think of the loveliness found in the idea of “a litany of sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.”