Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 21, 2025 is: gourmand • \GOOR-mahnd\ • noun A gourmand is a person who loves and appreciates good food and drink. Gourmand can also refer to someone who enjoys eating and drinking to excess. // He was a gourmand who retired to New Orleans to live close to the cuisine he loved best. See the entry > Examp…

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 20, 2025 is: inimitable • \in-IM-it-uh-bul\ • adjective Inimitable describes someone or something that is impossible to copy or imitate. // Courtnay delivered the speech in her own inimitable style. See the entry > Examples: “In a nation whose professed ideals include freedom, liberty and independence, …

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 19, 2025 is: virtuoso • \ver-choo-OH-soh\ • noun Virtuoso is used broadly to refer to a person who does something very skillfully, and is often used specifically to refer to a very skillful musician. // He’s a real virtuoso in the kitchen, whipping up gourmet dishes for his family not just on holidays b…

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 18, 2025 is: minuscule • \MIN-uh-skyool\ • adjective Something described as minuscule is very small. Minuscule can also mean "written in, or in the size or style of, lowercase letters," in which case it can be contrasted with majuscular. // The number of bugs in the latest version of the video game is m…

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 17, 2025 is: apprehension • \ap-rih-HEN-shun\ • noun Apprehension most often refers to the fear that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; it’s a feeling of being worried about the future. The word can also refer to seizure by legal process. // There is growing apprehension that next quarter’s…

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 16, 2025 is: parlay • \PAHR-lay\ • verb To parlay something is to use or develop it in order to get something else of greater value. Parlay is often used with the word into. // He hoped to parlay his basketball skills into a college scholarship. // She parlayed $5,000 and years of hard work into a multi…

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 16, 2025 is: parlay \PAHR-lay\ verb See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 15, 2025 is: hackneyed • \HAK-need\ • adjective Something is considered hackneyed when it is not interesting, funny, etc., because of being used too often; in other words, it's neither fresh nor original. // The new crime drama's characters are shallow stereotypes who engage one another in hackneyed dia…

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 14, 2025 is: deus ex machina • \DAY-us-eks-MAH-kih-nuh\ • noun A deus ex machina is a character or thing that suddenly enters the story in a novel, play, movie, etc., and solves a problem that had previously seemed impossible to solve. // The introduction of a new love interest in the final act was the …

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 13, 2025 is: secular • \SEK-yuh-ler\ • adjective Secular describes things that are not spiritual; that is, they relate more to the physical world than the spiritual world. The word also carries the closely related meaning of "not religious." // Each year, Ian directed his charitable giving toward secula…

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 13, 2025 is: secular \SEK-yuh-ler\ adjective See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 12, 2025 is: leitmotif • \LYTE-moh-teef\ • noun A leitmotif is a dominant recurring theme—something (such as a melody, an idea, or a phrase) repeated many times throughout a book, story, opera, etc. // The overcoming of obstacles and a love of theater are the two leitmotifs of her autobiography. See the…

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 11, 2025 is: cozen \KUZ-un\ verb See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 10, 2025 is: untenable \un-TEN-uh-bul\ adjective See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 9, 2025 is: excursion \ik-SKER-zhun\ noun See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 8, 2025 is: gelid \JELL-id\ adjective See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 7, 2025 is: beleaguer \bih-LEE-gur\ verb See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 6, 2025 is: tome \TOHM\ noun See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 5, 2025 is: cerulean \suh-ROO-lee-un\ adjective See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 4, 2025 is: fulminate \FULL-muh-nayt\ verb See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 3, 2025 is: addlepated \AD-ul-pay-tud\ adjective See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 2, 2025 is: potpourri \poh-pur-REE\ noun See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.