Wordplay

Arts & Culture (page 2)

12 Words and Phrases from The Simpsons

A perfectly cromulent way to embiggen your vocabulary

1,400 New Words and Definitions Added to Merriam-Webster.com

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Brush up your Homer

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

Spoiler alert: they all come from French

Why do we say 'head over heels'?

The original version made more sense

What's so extra about 'extra-virgin'?

The technical vocabulary hiding in your kitchen cabinet

The Opposite of Déjà Vu

When the familiar becomes unrecognizable

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

The answer to a color coded language riddle

Ten Kinds of Happiness

Joyful words from around the world

Ten More Words from Taylor Swift Songs

… Ready for them?

Stay Woke

Tracing the history of 'woke'

What exactly is a 'liberal'?

No one wants a 'servile arts' degree

15 Cheffy Words for Chefs (and Everyone Else)

Including 'cheffy'

A List of The U.S. Military Ranks in Order

From Private to General of the Army

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Our maraca shake brings all the hautbois to the yard

12 Star Wars Words

Enjoy this listicle, you will

A Great Big List of Bread Words

Quit loafing around and get that bread (word)

7 Words from Political Scandals

Behind the smoke-filled rooms

If You Like to Complain About 'Decimate'...

You'll love to hate these other words!

17 Tasty Names of Appetizers

Enjoy. They're complimentary.

10 Phrases from Shakespeare

Where the "wild goose chase" comes from

11 Words Used to Great Effect by Edgar Allan Poe

The Vocabulary in the Rue Morgue

What does 'eighty-six' mean?

We won't refuse you service

When is ‘cuffing season'?

Something to do during the cold, dark months.

The History of 'Nuclear Family'

Getting at the core of it.

The Hilarious History of 'OK'

English's most successful export

Has ‘supper’ always meant ‘dinner?'

Your grandmother might answer differently.

A Guide to British Noble Titles

Know your Duchess from your Baroness

10 Words Conjuring Hell and the Devil

Going beyond the fire and brimstone

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

Here's how all this nonsense started

9 Financial Words With Surprising Origins

In the beginning, 'income' simply meant "coming in"

8 Words and Phrases from U.S. Presidents

How to sound presidential

The History of 'Bull' and 'Bear' Markets

Which came first?

What's the political meaning of 'dog whistle'?

Can you hear me now?

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

The acronyms began as telegraph codes

How 'Mardi Gras' Got Its Name

Quick: eat everything in the house.

Why Jaywalking is Called Jaywalking

The shape of the letter J has nothing to do with it

Words that Come from Characters in Books

A who's who of literary allusions

Heroin, Granola, & More: Products That Became Words

Top 10 Words from Trademarks

How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

What our editors are looking for when they enter words in Merriam-Webster.

The Words of the Week - Oct. 23

Lookups from law, myth, and Poe

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16

Lookups from elections, diplomacy, and Indigenous Peoples’ Day

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Lookups from the gas station, the pumpkin patch, and Sweden

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

Lookups from space, storms, and store shelves

The Words of the Week - Sept. 25

Lookups from weather, colors, and Fat Bear Week

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18

Lookups from optical illusions, AI, and the Pleistocene

The Words of the Week - Sept. 11

Lookups from court, the internet, and an art heist

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4

Lookups from literature, hydrology, and potent potables

The Words of the Week - Aug. 28

Lookups from music, social media, and the Supreme Court

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

Lookups from baseball, politics, and climate

The Words of the Week - Aug. 14

Lookups from the earth, the sky, and the atmosphere

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

Lookups from the military, disasters, and baseball

The Words of the Week - Jul. 31

Lookups from law, rodents, and ninepins

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Lookups from soccer, law, and the Odyssey

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

Whether you’re California dreaming or in a New York state of mind

The Words of the Week - Jul 17

Lookups from Hollywood, Yellowstone, and Liverpool

The Words of the Week - Jul 10

Lookups from the World Cup, Madison Square Garden, and Love Island

The Words of the Week - Jul 3

Lookups from tennis, climate, and the Supreme Court

The Words of the Week - Jun 26

Lookups from the World Cup, Father’s Day, and Washington D.C.

The Words of the Week - Jun 19

Lookups from Juneteenth, Curaçao, and the Constitution

The Words of the Week - Jun 12

Lookups from New York, Texas, and Utah

The Words of the Week - Jun 5

Lookups from botany, tennis, and Pride Month

The Words of the Week - May 29

Lookups from jazz, basketball, and the Vatican

The Words of the Week - May 22

Lookups from education, health, and ancient dentistry

The Words of the Week - May 15

Lookups from graduation ceremonies, wooded swamps, and Mother’s Day

The Words of the Week - May 8

Lookups from war, holidays, and Alcatraz

The Words of the Week - May 1

Lookups from a royal visit, restaurant lingo, and fishy research

The Words of the Week - Apr. 24

Lookups from archaeology, elections, and Scandinavian mythology

The Words of the Week - Apr. 17

Lookups from Artemis II, New York City, and the Strait of Hormuz

The Words of the Week - Apr. 10

Lookups from politics, literature, and the line between darkness and light

The Words of the Week - Apr. 3

Lookups from holidays, lunar missions, and the Supreme Court

The Words of the Week - Mar. 27

Lookups from social media, geology, and the equinox

The Words of the Week - Mar. 20

Lookups from war, memorials, and the night sky

The Words of the Week - Mar. 13

Lookups from war, weather, and waterways

The Words of the Week - Mar. 6

Lookups from Iran, Florida, and college basketball

The Words of the Week - Feb. 27

Lookups from art, Mexico, and the Blizzard of ‘26

The Words of the Week - Feb. 20

Lookups from the Winter Olympics, Islam, and the Sierra Nevadas

The Words of the Week - Feb. 13

Lookups from the Winter Olympics, the Super Bowl, and the Epstein files

Whither 'Wuthering'?: 12 Words from Wuthering Heights

12 words used by Emily Brontë in her 1847 novel

The Words of the Week - Feb. 6

Lookups from Punxsutawney, the Vatican, and Hollywood

The Words of the Week - Jan. 30

Lookups from Venezuela, Minneapolis, and Winter Storm Fern

The Words of the Week - Jan. 23

Lookups from national holidays, solar storms, and Davos

The Words of the Week - Jan. 16

Lookups from music, Minnesota, and the Pacific

The Words of the Week - Jan. 9

Lookups from Venezuela, fast food, and social media

The Words of the Week - Jan. 2

Lookups from holidays, New York City, and Switzerland

The Words of the Week - Dec. 26

Lookups from the holidays, the media, and the Internet

The Words of the Week - Dec. 19

Lookups from Hanukkah, Australia, and evolution

2025 Word of the Year: Slop

Merriam-Webster's 2025 Word of the Year is 'Slop'

The Words of the Week - Dec. 12

Lookups from yuletide, typefaces, and megamergers

The Words of the Week - Dec. 5

Lookups from social media, Southeast Asia, and the bayou

The Words of the Week - Nov. 28

Lookups from music, geography, and turkey

The Words of the Week - Nov. 21

Lookups from federal court, numismatics, and the night sky

The Words of the Week - Nov. 14

Lookups from textiles, the night sky, and Veterans Day

The Words of the Week - Nov. 7

Lookups from election day, Los Angeles, and the theater

The Words of the Week - Oct. 31

Lookups from Jamaica, Halloween, and the World Series

The Words of the Week - Oct. 24

Lookups from Paris, the White House, and our day and age

The Words of the Week - Oct. 17

Lookups from baseball, R&B, and Indigenous Peoples’ Day

The Words of the Week - Oct. 10

Lookups from calligraphy, Sweden, and the Mediterranean

The Words of the Week - Oct. 3

Lookups from lexicography, federal court, and Washington D.C.

The Words of the Week - Sept. 26

Lookups from autumn, Mars, and Fat Bear Week

The Words of the Week - Sept. 19

Lookups from the UN, the White House press pool, and the syllabus

8 Real (and Perceived) Redundant Words

This article’s got a little something something for everyone.

The Words of the Week - Sept. 12

Lookups from a scandal, Utah, and Brazil

How 7 Fruits and Veggies Got Their Names

Spoiler alert: dragon fruit doesn't come from dragons

The Words of the Week - Sept. 5

Lookups from Los Angeles, Lisbon, and Washington, D.C.

The Words of the Week - Aug. 29

Lookups from weather, court, and entertainment

The Words of the Week - Aug. 22

Lookups from music, the weather, and technology

The Words of the Week - Aug. 15

Lookups from Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C.
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