Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 31, 2025 is: retrospective • \reh-truh-SPEK-tiv\  • adjective Retrospective describes something that relates to the past or to something that happened in the past. // The museum has curated a retrospective exhibit of the artist's early works. See the entry > Examples: "Our retrospective sense of time hinges on memory: Periods rich in novel, significant experiences feel longer, while routine collapses duration ..." — Marc Wittmann, Psychology Today, 16 Nov. 2025 Did you know? At the year's end, both introspection and retrospection are common. While introspection involves looking inward and taking stock of oneself, retrospection is all about recollecting and contemplating things that happened in the past. A look back at the history of the related adjective retrospective reveals that it retains a strong connection to its past: its Latin source is retrospicere, meaning "to look back at." Retrospective can also be used as a noun referring to an exhibition that "looks back" at an artist's work created over a span of years. Once you have retrospective and retrospection behind you, you can also add their kin retrospect (most familiar in the phrase in retrospect to describe thinking about the past or something that happened in the past) and retro (usually meaning "fashionably nostalgic or old-fashioned") to your vocabulary, too.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 30, 2025 is: charisma • \kuh-RIZ-muh\  • noun Charisma refers to a special magnetic charm or appeal that causes people to feel attracted and excited by someone. A person with charisma is captivating and often admired. // The young singer has the kind of charisma that turns a performer into a star. See the entry > Examples: "Sports and showbiz have gone hand in hand since newsreels in the 1920s showcased the skills and charisma of Babe Ruth." — Carole Horst, Variety, 16 July 2025 Did you know? The Greek word charisma means "favor" or "gift." It comes from the verb charizesthai ("to favor"), which in turn comes from the noun charis, meaning "grace." In English, charisma was originally used in Christian contexts to refer to a gift or power bestowed upon an individual by the Holy Spirit for the good of the Church—a sense that is now very rare. These days, we use the word to refer to social, rather than divine, grace. For instance, a leader with charisma may easily gain popular support, and a job applicant with charisma may shine in an interview.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 29, 2025 is: nefarious • \nih-FAIR-ee-us\  • adjective Nefarious is a formal word that describes something as evil or immoral. // Authorities suspect that the recovered materials were going to be used for nefarious purposes. See the entry > Examples: “Introducing characters like Gorilla Grodd on DC Crime would help familiarize audiences with these figures before they potentially receive an expanded role in another project. Perhaps each season could focus on a different villain, highlighting their nefarious actions.” — Chris Agar, comicbook.com, 16 Nov. 2025 Did you know? If you need a fancy word to describe someone who’s up to no good, nefarious has got you (and them) covered. It’s also handy for characterizing the “no good” such a dastardly devil gets up to, as in “a nefarious business/plot/deed.” Nefarious is most often used for someone or something that is flagrantly wicked or corrupt—it’s more applicable to the mustache-twirling supervillain than the morally gray antihero. In other words, there’s no question that a nefarious scheme, or schemer, is not right. Etymologically, this makes perfect sense: nefarious can be traced back to the Latin noun nefas, meaning “crime,” which in turn combines ne- (“not”) and fas, meaning “right” or “divine law.” It is one of very few English words with this root, accompanied only by the likes of nefariousness and the thoroughly obscure nefast (“wicked”).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 28, 2025 is: yen • \YEN\  • noun A yen is a strong desire, urge, or craving for something. // After dinner, the family went out for ice cream to satisfy their yen for something sweet. // Students with a yen to travel should consider studying abroad. See the entry > Examples: “If you’ve got a yen for succulent, right-off-the-boat Maine sea scallops, now is the time to get them.” — Stephen Rappaport, The Bangor Daily News, 26 Mar. 2025 Did you know? Although yen suggests no more than a strong desire these days (as in “a yen for a beach vacation”), at one time someone with a yen was in deep trouble: the first meaning of yen, used in the late 19th century, was an intense craving for opium. The word comes from yīn-yáhn, a combination of yīn, meaning “opium,” and yáhn, “craving,” in the Chinese language used in the province of Guangdong. In English, the Chinese syllables were translated as yen-yen, and eventually shortened to yen.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 27, 2025 is: apropos • \ap-ruh-POH\  • preposition Apropos is used as a preposition to mean "with regard to." It is frequently used in the phrase "apropos of." // Sean interrupted our conversation about politics and, apropos of nothing, asked who we thought would win the basketball game. As an adjective, apropos describes something that is suitable or appropriate, as in "an apropos nickname." See the entry > Examples: "Once, at the height of COVID, I dropped off a book at the home of Werner Herzog. I was an editor at the time and was trying to assign him a review, so I drove up to his gate in Laurel Canyon, and we had the briefest of masked conversations. Within 30 seconds, it turned strange. 'Do you have a dog? A little dog?' he asked me, staring out at the hills of Los Angeles, apropos of nothing. He didn't wait for an answer. 'Then be careful of the coyotes,' Herzog said." — Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 8 Jan. 2025 Did you know? Apropos wears its ancestry like a badge—or perhaps more fittingly a beret. From the French phrase à propos, meaning "to the purpose," the word's emphasis lands on its last syllable, which ends in a silent "s": \ap-ruh-POH\. Apropos typically functions as an adjective describing what is suitable or appropriate ("an apropos comment"), or as a preposition (with or without of) meaning "with regard to," as in "apropos (of) the decision, implementation will take some time." The phrase "apropos of nothing" is used to signal that what follows does not relate to any previous topic.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 26, 2025 is: grandiose • \gran-dee-OHSS\  • adjective Grandiose is usually used disapprovingly to describe something that seems impressive or is intended to be impressive, but that is either not possible or practical. // The long-vacant historic building has finally been purchased, and the developer has announced grandiose plans to make it the center of a new theater district. See the entry > Examples: “Henry [VIII] was a leader known for his grandiose presentation, a love of dramatic rhetoric and self-promotion, and a fondness for blaming others. He carefully curated his image, issuing official portraits and closely managing public appearances. His reign concentrated power in one man and his obsessions.” — Philippa Gregory, LitHub.com, 29 Oct. 2025 Did you know? When it comes to bigness, there’s grand and then there’s grandiose. Both words can be used to describe something impressive in size, scope, or effect, but while grand may lend its noun a bit of dignity (i.e., “we had a grand time”), grandiose often implies a whiff of pretension. The difference between a grand plan for the city park and a grandiose one, for example, might be the difference between a tasteful fountain and a garden full of topiaries cut in the shapes of 19th century literary figures. So if you’re choosing between the two, a helpful mnemonic might be that the extra letters in grandiose suggest that one’s ideas, claims, promises, schemes, dreams—you get the idea—are a bit extra.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 25, 2025 is: noel • \noh-EL\  • noun When capitalized, Noel refers to Christmas or the Christmas season. Uncapitalized, noel refers to a Christmas carol. // We were greeted at the door by a group of carolers singing noels. // Every year we send our family Christmas cards with our photo enclosed wishing everyone a joyous Noel. See the entry > Examples: “The meeting began with a touch of holiday spirit as members of the Woodland Park High School Madrigals sang three selections. The first was a Noel song with a medieval/renaissance feel that was well matched to their festive costumes. They followed with the popular ‘Carol of the Bells’ and ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas.’” — Doug Fitzgerald, The Pikes Peak (Colorado) Courier, 9 Dec. 2024 Did you know? English speakers borrowed noel from the French word noël, which is also used for both the Christmas holiday and a Christmas carol. It can be traced further back to the Latin word natalis, which can mean “birthday” as a noun or “of or relating to birth” as an adjective. (The English adjective natal has the same meaning and is also an offspring of natalis.) Noels were being sung in Latin and French for centuries before English-speakers started using the word to refer to Christmas carols in the 18th century. An early use of noel (spelled Nowel) to mean “Christmas” can be found in the text of the late 14th-century Arthurian legend Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 24, 2025 is: hark back • \HAHRK-BAK\  • verb Harking back can be about turning back to an earlier topic or circumstance, as in "a storyteller harking back to his youth," or it can be about going back to something as an origin or source, as in "a style that harks back to the turn of the previous century." // The dinner conversation harked back to the lunch debate over what counts as a traditional holiday meal. // The diner's interior decor harks back to the 1950s. See the entry > Examples: "The single harks back to Chenier's heyday when his music was produced on 45s and put into jukeboxes, says [Maureen] Loughran." — Alicia Ault, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2025 Did you know? Hark, a very old word meaning "to listen," was used as a cry in hunting. The master of the hunt might cry "Hark! Forward!" or "Hark! Back!" The cries became set phrases, both as nouns and verbs. Thus, a "hark back" was a retracing of a route by dogs and hunters, and to "hark back" was to turn back along the path. From its use in hunting, the verb acquired its current figurative meanings concerned with returning to the past. The variants hearken and harken (also very old words meaning "to listen") are also used, with and without back, as synonyms of hark back.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 23, 2025 is: bespoke • \bih-SPOHK\  • adjective Bespoke describes something that is custom-made—that is, made to fit the needs or requirements of a particular person. // As a tailor, Lana specialized in crafting bespoke clothing for her clients, each piece unique and suited to their tastes. See the entry > Examples: “The vehicles are bespoke machines with every little detail thought of, from embroidered seats to custom floor mats to retro paint jobs.” — Charlie Berrey, SlashGear.com, 10 Nov. 2025 Did you know? In the English language of yore, the verb bespeak had various meanings, including “to speak,” “to accuse,” and “to complain.” In the 16th century, bespeak acquired another meaning: “to order.” It is from that sense that we get the adjective bespoke, referring to clothes and other things that are ordered before they are made. Bespoke has enjoyed a spike in usage in recent years, perhaps due to consumer trends that champion all things artisanal over those that are prefab.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 22, 2025 is: temporize • \TEM-puh-ryze\  • verb To temporize is to avoid making a decision or giving a definite answer in order to have more time. // Pressured by voters on both sides of the issue, the congressman temporized. See the entry > Examples: "The question is, Did you eat the last piece of pie? And the politician who ate the last piece of pie doesn't want to say yes, because they might get in trouble. Doesn't want to say no, because that's an outright lie. So they waver, they equivocate, they temporize, they put things in context, and they talk like a politician." — David Frum, The Atlantic (The David Frum Show podcast), 21 May 2025 Did you know? Temporize comes from the Middle French word temporiser, which in turn likely traces back via Medieval Latin temporizāre, "to delay," to the Latin noun tempus, meaning "time." Tempus is also the root of such words as tempo, contemporary, and temporal. If you need to buy some time, you might resort to temporizing, but you probably won't win admiration for doing so, as the word typically carries a negative connotation. For instance, a political leader faced with a difficult issue might temporize by talking vaguely about possible solutions without actually doing anything. The point of such temporizing is to avoid taking definitive—and possibly unpopular—action, in hopes that the problem will somehow go away.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 21, 2025 is: hibernaculum • \hye-ber-NAK-yuh-lum\  • noun Hibernaculum (plural hibernacula) refers to a shelter occupied during the winter by a dormant animal, such as an insect, snake, bat, or marmot. // Local scientists are studying the longevity of bats who use bridges and other aboveground hibernacula versus that of bats who roost all winter in subterranean caves. See the entry > Examples: “Adult female bees begin looking for a hibernation location, or hibernaculum, in the fall. If the gardener is planning to deadhead any spent flowers from the summer, aim to prune stems at varying heights (8" to 24") as a nesting site for these bees. Many perennial flowers and shrubs have pithy stems that will serve as a good location. A few common Oklahoma garden plants that are good candidates include roses, purple coneflower, salvia, bee balm, and sunflowers.” — Sherry Clark, The Shawnee (Oklahoma) News-Star, 8 Oct. 2025 Did you know? If you’re afraid of snakes or bats, you probably won’t enjoy thinking about hibernacula, where hundreds, even thousands, of these creatures might be passing the wintry months. Other creatures also use hibernacula, though many of these tend to be less crowded. The word hibernaculum has been used for the burrow of a woodchuck, for instance, as well as for a cozy caterpillar cocoon attached to a wintry twig, and for the spot in which a frog has buried itself in mud. Hibernacula are all around us and have been around for a long, long time, but we have only called them such since the late 1700s, making hibernaculum only a few decades older than the more familiar verb hibernate. Both words come from the Latin verb hibernare, meaning “to pass the winter,” which in turn comes from hibernus, meaning “winter.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 20, 2025 is: decorous • \DECK-er-us\  • adjective Decorous is a formal adjective used to describe an attitude or behavior characterized by propriety and good taste. // The ceremony was conducted with a decorous solemnity. See the entry > Examples: “... Elizabeth reveals, later, that she felt she never belonged to the decorous world of parties and corsets and curls and feathers on the head ...” — Ryan Lattanzio, Indie Wire, 13 Oct. 2025 Did you know? One of the earliest recorded uses of decorous appears in a book titled The Rules of Civility (1671): “It is not decorous to look in the glass, to comb, brush, or do any thing of that nature to ourselves, whilst the said person be in the Room.” This rule of thumb may be a bit outdated; like many behaviors once deemed unbecoming, public primping is unlikely to offend in modern times. Though mores shift, decorous lives on to describe timeless courtesies like polite speech, proper attire, and (ahem) covering one’s cough.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 19, 2025 is: veracity • \vuh-RASS-uh-tee\  • noun Veracity is a formal word that can refer to truth or accuracy, or to the quality of being truthful or honest. // The jury seemed not to doubt the veracity of the witness. See the entry > Examples: "Raise your hand if you've been questioning the veracity of real events, news stories and images posted on social media lately. It used to be we'd have to tiptoe around a minefield of hoaxes only once a year, on April 1. But thanks to the proliferation of misinformation spawned by artificial intelligence, every day on the internet is an exercise in judgment and media literacy." — Laura Yuen, The Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator, 9 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Veracity has been in use since the early 17th century, and we can honestly tell you that it comes from the Latin adjective vērāx, "truthful," which in turn comes from the earlier verus, "true." Verus also gives us the words verity ("the quality of being true"), verify ("to establish the truth of"), and verisimilitude ("the appearance of truth"), among other words. In addition, vērāx is the root of the word veraciousness, a somewhat rarer synonym and cousin of veracity.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 18, 2025 is: jaunty • \JAWN-tee\  • adjective Something described as jaunty is lively in manner or appearance. Jaunty can also describe something, such as an article of clothing, that suggests a lively and confident quality. // The server whistled a jaunty tune as she wiped the tables and set out fresh flowers in preparation for the day’s diners. See the entry > Examples: “He stood at the front of the room and announced that we would begin with a quiz, which we all failed because the quiz was over material that we were supposed to have covered during the last class. When he handed the quizzes back to us after the break, he did so in a frenetic, almost jaunty way, running up and down the aisles and announcing our grades—‘Zero, zero, zero’—loudly before tossing the quizzes down in front of us ...” — Lori Ostlund, Are You Happy?: Stories, 2025 Did you know? Does throwing on a jaunty hat make someone appear more genteel? Maybe, but something more definitive links the words: both jaunty and genteel come from the French word gentil, meaning “of aristocratic birth.” Genteel was borrowed first to describe things associated with aristocratic people. Jaunty joined the language just a few years later in the mid-17th century as a synonym of stylish and also as a synonym for genteel. While genteel has maintained its associations of propriety and high social class, jaunty has traipsed into less stuffy territory as a descriptor of tunes and hats and other things that suggest lively confidence.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 17, 2025 is: espouse • \ih-SPOWZ\  • verb To espouse an ideology, belief, etc., is to take it up and support it as a cause. Espouse is usually encountered in formal speech and writing. // The article explores some of the lesser-known viewpoints espoused by the charismatic leader. See the entry > Examples: “Crammed into a tiny apartment in Greenwich Village, they [Yoko Ono and John Lennon] immersed themselves in the city’s counterculture, absorbing progressive politics whenever they weren’t glued to the television set. Lennon’s celebrity secured the duo a large platform to espouse these ideas ...” — Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 11 Oct. 2025 Did you know? As you might guess, the words espouse and spouse are hitched, both coming from the Latin verb spondēre, meaning “to promise” or “to betroth.” In fact, the two were once completely interchangeable, with each serving as a noun meaning “a newly married person” or “a partner in marriage” and also as a verb meaning “to marry.” Their semantic separation began when the noun espouse fell out of use. Nowadays, espouse is almost exclusively encountered as a verb used in the figuratively extended sense “to commit to and support as a cause.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 16, 2025 is: conversant • \kun-VER-sunt\  • adjective Conversant, usually used in the phrase "conversant with," describes someone who has knowledge of or experience with something. // The ideal candidate for the sommelier position will have expert knowledge of the various wines served in the restaurant and be conversant with the rich world of viniculture. See the entry > Examples: "The advantages of franchise expansion are obvious. These shows benefit from name recognition and a dedicated audience, as well as writers, producers and crew members already conversant with that audience's expectations." — Alexis Soloski, The New York Times, 6 July 2025 Did you know? The adjectives conversant and conversational both descend from the Latin verb conversari, meaning "to associate with." Conversant dates to the Middle Ages; an early meaning of the word was simply "having familiar association." One way to associate with others is to have a conversation with them—in other words, to talk. For a short time in the 19th century conversant could mean "relating to or suggesting conversation," but for the most part that meaning stayed with conversational while conversant went in a different direction. Today, conversant is sometimes used, especially in the United States, with the meaning "able to talk in a foreign language," as in "she is conversant in several languages," but it is more often associated with knowledge or familiarity, as in "conversant with the issues."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 15, 2025 is: dreidel • \DRAY-dul\  • noun A dreidel is a 4-sided toy marked with Hebrew letters and spun like a top in a game of chance. The game, played by children especially at Hanukkah, is also called dreidel. // All the kids in the family look forward to playing dreidel together during Hanukkah. See the entry > Examples: “The Jewish tradition has always been syncretic, adapting and responding to the culture around it, he [Rabbi Steven Philp] said. Hanukkah is ‘a great example of this,’ Philp said, noting that the holiday’s traditions—like spinning the dreidel, eating latkes or potato pancakes, and munching on ... jelly-filled doughnuts—are customs that were borrowed from neighboring cultures over time.” — Kate Heather, The Chicago Sun-Times, 25 Dec. 2024 Did you know? If your dreidel is spinning beneath the glow of the menorah, it’s probably the Jewish festival of lights known as Hanukkah. The holiday celebrates the miracle of a small amount of oil—enough for one day—burning for eight days in the Temple of Jerusalem. And though it’s a toy, the dreidel’s design is very much an homage: on each of its four sides is inscribed a Hebrew letter—nun, gimel, he, and shin—which together stand for Nes gadol haya sham, meaning “A great miracle happened there.” (In Israel, the letter pe, short for po, “here,” is often used instead of shin). In the game of dreidel, each letter bears its own significance: the dreidel is spun and depending on which letter is on top when it lands, the player’s currency, or gelt, is added to or taken from the pot. Nun means the player does nothing; gimel means the player gets everything; he means the player gets half; and shin means the player adds to the pot. Wherever you land on holiday traditions, we wish you words of gimel: gratitude, grub, and, of course, gaiety.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 14, 2025 is: multitudinous • \mul-tuh-TOO-duh-nus\  • adjective Multitudinous is a formal word with meanings that relate to multitudes. It can mean “existing in a great multitude”—that is, “very many”; or “including a multitude of individuals”; or “existing in or consisting of innumerable elements or aspects.” // The two old friends reminisced about the multitudinous ways in which their lives had changed. // The author’s appearance is expected to attract a multitudinous gathering that will fill the auditorium. See the entry > Examples: “Launched as Holton’s artistic inquiry into his own Chinese heritage, the project has evolved into a profound examination of family dynamics, migration, and cultural hybridity in contemporary New York, where the American identity is multitudinous.” — Natasha Gural, Forbes, 11 June 2025 Did you know? “I am large, I contain multitudes.” So wrote Walt Whitman in his most celebrated poem, “Song of Myself.” He was expressing his ability to hold within himself contradictory statements, facets, opinions, beliefs, etc. Another, if less poetic, way of saying “I contain multitudes” might be “I am multitudinous,” using the sense of that five-syllable word meaning “existing in or consisting of innumerable elements or aspects.” Multitudinous doesn’t have a lot of meanings—three to be exact—but each one concerns, well, a lot. In addition to serving Whitmanesque purposes as noted above, multitudinous is the kind of highly expressive word that you can rely upon when you want something a little more emphatic than plain old numerous, as in “multitudinous possibilities.” Lastly, its original sense—still in use today—is a synonym of populous meaning “including a multitude of individuals,” as in “the multitudinous city.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 13, 2025 is: alleviate • \uh-LEE-vee-ayt\  • verb To alleviate something is to make it less painful, difficult, or severe. Alleviate can also mean "to partially remove or correct." // There's no cure for the common cold, but there are various treatments that may alleviate some of the symptoms. // The new tunnel should alleviate traffic congestion on the bridge. See the entry > Examples: "The funds are meant to alleviate monetary barriers and enhance the fashion industry's talent pipeline." — Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 30 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Now for a bit of light reading. Alleviate comes from Latin levis, meaning "having little weight." (Levis also gave rise to the English adjective light as in "not heavy.") In its early days during the 16th century, alleviate could mean both "to cause (something) to have less weight" or "to make (something) more tolerable." The literal "make lighter" sense is no longer used, and today only the "relieve, lessen" sense remains. Incidentally, not only is alleviate a synonym of relieve, it's also a cousin: relieve comes from Latin levare ("to raise"), which in turn comes from levis.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 12, 2025 is: waggish • \WAG-ish\  • adjective Waggish describes someone who is silly and playful, and especially someone who displays a mischievous sense of humor. The word can also describe things that such a person might do or possess. // He had a waggish disposition that could irk adults but typically delighted children. // She denied the prank but did so with a waggish smirk that didn't match her disavowal. See the entry > Examples: “[Patricia] Lockwood began her writing life quietly, as a poet. She found her first major audience on Twitter, posting self-proclaimed ‘absurdities’ ... that quickly came to define the medium’s zany, waggish ethos ...” — Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025 Did you know? One who is waggish acts like a wag. What, then, is a wag? It has nothing to do with a dog’s tail; in this case a wag is a clever person prone to joking. Though light-hearted in its use and meaning, the probable source of this particular wag is grim: it is thought to be short for waghalter, an obsolete English word that translates as gallows bird, a gallows bird being someone thought to be deserving of hanging (wag being the familiar wag having to do with movement, and halter referring to a noose). Despite its gloomy origins, waggish is now often associated with humor and playfulness—a wag is a joker, and waggery is merriment or practical joking. Waggish can describe the prank itself as well as the prankster type; the class clown might be said to have a “waggish disposition” or be prone to “waggish antics.”