Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 5, 2025 is:

plethora • \PLETH-uh-ruh\  • noun

Plethora refers to a very large amount or number of something. Plethora is most often used in the phrase "a plethora of."

// The hotel offers a plethora of amenities, including indoor and outdoor pools, a fitness center, and world-class dining.

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Examples:

"In 1895, Japan won Taiwan from China in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ending the Sino-Japanese War, and from 1895 to 1945, the island was a colony of Japan. The cultural influences of Japan persist to th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 4, 2025 is:

risible • \RIZZ-uh-bul\  • adjective

Risible is a formal word used disapprovingly to describe things that deserve to be mocked or laughed at because they are absurd or unreasonable.

// Although the teachers derided the students’ slang as risible nonsense, the same had been said about their own generation’s lingo.

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Examples:

"Smartwatches and smartphones are banned in my children’s schools during the school day, which I’m very happy about; I find any argument for allowing these devices...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 3, 2025 is:

sleuth • \SLOOTH\  • verb

To sleuth is to carefully or methodically search for information, or to act as a detective.

// We spent hours at the flea market sleuthing for 19th century paintings.

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Examples:

"To fill the market with vintage treasure, we called upon some of the industry’s best dressed—Anok Yai, Emma Chamberlain, Hamish Bowles, Julia Sarr-Jamois, Kaia Gerber, Paloma Elsesser, Tabitha Simmons, Tonne Goodman, and Gigi Hadid—to sleuth through eBay and curate their must-haves...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 2, 2025 is:

ziggurat • \ZIG-uh-rat\  • noun

A ziggurat is an ancient Mesopotamian temple consisting of a pyramidal structure built in successive stages with outside staircases and a shrine at the top. The word ziggurat is also sometimes used for a similarly shaped structure.

// Ancient ziggurats were always built with a core of mud brick and an exterior covered with baked brick. They had no internal chambers and were usually square or rectangular.

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Examples:

"The Breuer building, the former home...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 2, 2025 is:

ziggurat • \ZIG-uh-rat\  • noun

A ziggurat is an ancient Mesopotamian temple consisting of a pyramidal structure built in successive stages with outside staircases and a shrine at the top. The word ziggurat is also sometimes used for a similarly shaped structure.

// Ancient ziggurats were always built with a core of mud brick and an exterior covered with baked brick. They had no internal chambers and were usually square or rectangular.

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Examples:

"The Breuer building, the former home...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 1, 2025 is:

convoluted • \KAHN-vuh-loo-tud\  • adjective

Something described as convoluted is very complicated and difficult to understand, or has many curves and turns.

// The speaker’s argument was so convoluted that most of the audience had trouble determining whether they were for or against the new policy.

// The route from the airport to the village was long and convoluted.

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Examples:

“The publishing house had recently declined to publish my new book and one of their editors appeared...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 30, 2025 is:

insouciance • \in-SOO-see-unss\  • noun

Insouciance is a formal word that refers to a feeling of carefree unconcern. It can also be understood as a word for the relaxed and calm state of a person who is not worried about anything.

// The young actor charmed interviewers with his easy smile and devil-may-care insouciance.

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Examples:

“Gladiator II is OK when Denzel’s off-screen, but sensational when he’s on it. ... What makes the performance great is its insouciance; it’s both p...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 29, 2025 is:

furtive • \FER-tiv\  • adjective

Furtive describes something that is done in a quiet and secret way to avoid being noticed. It can also mean "expressive of stealth" or "sly" (as in "a furtive look"), or "obtained underhandedly" (as in "furtive gains").

// We exchanged furtive smiles across the table, carefully not to attract the teacher's attention.

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Examples:

"Like cardinals, Carolina wrens have slowly and gradually immigrated into New Brunswick and other areas of the Maritimes…. So if we look...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 28, 2025 is:

alacrity • \uh-LAK-ruh-tee\  • noun

Alacrity refers to a quick and cheerful readiness to do something.

// She accepted the invitation to go on the trip with an alacrity that surprised her parents, who had assumed she wouldn’t be interested.

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Examples:

“Antipater, about to mount his horse, saw Pollio and Sameas so close to him that the sleeve of Sameas almost touched his own in the crush. … Antipater had graciously invited the two to view his new grandson an...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 27, 2025 is:

decimate • \DESS-uh-mayt\  • verb

Decimate can mean both “to destroy a large number of (plants, animals, people, etc.)” or “to severely damage or destroy a large part of (something).”

// The bay’s lobsters have been decimated by disease.

// Budget cuts have decimated public services throughout the state.

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Examples:

“The deer—and there is an abundance of those animals this year—got into my beans and within a few nights they had all but decimated my crop. Tracks showe...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 26, 2025 is:

nonchalant • \nahn-shuh-LAHNT\  • adjective

Someone described as nonchalant is relaxed and calm, either because they do not care about something or because they are not worried about something. Nonchalant can also be used to describe something, such as demeanor or behavior, that expresses such relaxed, calm unconcern.

// The team showed a somewhat nonchalant attitude at the beginning of the season, but they became more serious once the championship was within reach.

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Examples:

"He is largely unaffected by th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 25, 2025 is:

travail • \truh-VAIL\  • noun

Travail is a formal word, usually used in plural, that refers to a difficult experience or situation.

// The book describes the political travails of the governor during her first year in office.

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Examples:

"Written by Samy Burch, the film [Coyote vs. Acme] follows the travails of the desert denizen who is tired of being slammed with Acme products as he tries to outsmart the Roadrunner. Coyote finally decides to hire a lawyer to ta...