| 1 | Sep 26, '25 | We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25. | 130× | 21.5M | 199k | 30k | 13k |
| 2 | Jul 25, '25 | 'Irregardless' is a word. | 77.9× | 12.9M | 186k | 13k | 8.5k |
| 3 | Feb 28, '23 | Non-native English Speakers, what’s a word from your language that you think is perfect that doesn’t have an English equivalent? Take us to church. | 58.6× | 9.7M | 19k | 4.7k | 5.9k |
| 4 | Mar 28, '23 | People who subscribe to Merriam-Webster Red™ will get exclusive access to the real definitions. | 49.5× | 8.2M | 68k | 9.7k | 707 |
| 5 | May 5, '24 | diss | noun | an insulting expression of disrespect or criticism | 45.7× | 7.6M | 87k | 14k | 2.8k |
| 6 | Sep 12, '25 | ‘Booty’ and ‘butt’ are synonyms. ‘Call’ and ‘dial’ are synonyms. But, a ‘booty call’ and a ‘butt dial’ are VERY different things. | 44× | 7.3M | 230k | 28k | 14k |
| 7 | Apr 3, '25 | The ‘im’ means “not” so ‘impossible’ means “not possible.” But we’ll let it slide because we know you took your life from negative to positive. | 38.3× | 6.3M | 181k | 12k | 4k |
| 8 | Sep 3, '25 | enshittification | noun | when a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits | 34.8× | 5.8M | 76k | 9k | 3.4k |
| 9 | Oct 14, '24 | @KDTrey5 @JasonAWilkinson centel'd | verb | see above | 34.6× | 5.7M | 51k | 2.1k | 1.6k |
| 10 | Aug 4, '25 | brb checking the archives | 32.5× | 5.4M | 87k | 1.4k | 3.2k |
| 11 | Jul 8, '25 | The word ‘stan’ comes from the Eminem song "Stan" which is about one of his obsessed fans. What if Eminem named the fan ‘Dennis’? We could be saying, “I dennis Beyonce.” | 32.5× | 5.4M | 98k | 4.7k | 3.8k |
| 12 | May 13, '23 | "IRREGARDLESS" HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE 1795. ITS INCLUSION IN THE DICTIONARY IS NOT A SIGN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FALLING TO PIECES, OR PROOF OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM FAILING, NOR | 27.3× | 4.5M | 25k | 3.9k | 837 |
| 13 | Aug 20, '23 | ‘Hurriquake’ is a new one for us, too. | 21.4× | 3.5M | 45k | 7.7k | 448 |
| 14 | Oct 21, '25 | This is smart, intelligent, wise, savvy, astute, shrewd, clever, sharp, brilliant. | 19.3× | 3.2M | 180k | 15k | 3.5k |
| 15 | Jun 22, '23 | 55 Nouns 55 Verbs 55 Adjectives 55 Prepositions 55 Adverbs 100 Conjunctions 100 Gerunds 100 Abbreviations 100 Interjections 100 Onomatopoeias 55 Determiners 55 Acronyms 55 Place Na | 17.3× | 2.9M | 19k | 1.4k | 237 |
| 16 | Oct 12, '23 | summit | noun | a conference of highest-level officials | 17.2× | 2.8M | 27k | 3k | 210 |
| 17 | Oct 20, '25 | Not to be THAT dictionary, but… It’s ‘per se,’ not ‘per say.’ It’s ‘dog-eat-dog world,’ not ‘doggy-dog world.’ It’s ‘hunger pangs,’ not ‘hunger pains.’ It’s ‘one and the same,’ not | 16.9× | 2.8M | 56k | 9.5k | 6.6k |
| 18 | Jun 7, '24 | View post on X | 16.9× | 2.8M | 103k | 3.4k | 1.4k |
| 19 | Apr 17, '23 | @ladygaga Not yet but hopefully soon 🤞 | 16.6× | 2.7M | 20k | 593 | 316 |
| 20 | Nov 5, '24 | pole = 💈 poll = 🗳️ | 15.5× | 2.6M | 43k | 7.1k | 379 |
| 21 | Dec 8, '23 | We can confirm that Shohei Ohtani is not in the Merriam-Webster Citation Archives. | 15.3× | 2.5M | 18k | 2k | 270 |
| 22 | Jul 7, '25 | 'Vacations.' The word is 'vacations.' | 14.6× | 2.4M | 77k | 9.6k | 1.9k |
| 23 | May 31, '17 | Wakes up. Checks Twitter. . . . Uh... . . . 📈 Lookups fo... . . . Regrets checking Twitter. Goes back to bed. | 13.3× | 0 | 148k | 60k | 18 |
| 24 | Feb 15, '24 | It is permissible in English for a preposition to be what you end a sentence with. The idea that it should be avoided came from writers who were trying to align the language with L | 12.5× | 2.1M | 18k | 2.5k | 1.2k |
| 25 | Sep 12, '23 | This might be the best reply we have ever received. | 12.2× | 2M | 26k | 1.7k | 228 |
| 26 | Jan 10, '24 | -“‘Helicopter’ does not come from ‘heli’ and ‘copter,’ but from ‘helico’ (from Greek ‘helix’ meaning “spiral”) plus ‘pter’ (from Greek ‘pteron’ meaning “wing”).” -“Like in ‘pteroda | 11.6× | 1.9M | 42k | 4.9k | 1.5k |
| 27 | Jul 2, '23 | To address extreme levels of language enthusiasm, we've applied the following temporary limits: -Writers, Lyricists, and other Professional Wordsmiths: 6000 definition lookups/day | 11.4× | 1.9M | 22k | 4.4k | 202 |
| 28 | May 19, '24 | lively | adjective | quick to rebound | 11.1× | 1.8M | 21k | 3.4k | 562 |
| 29 | Sep 30, '20 | 'Stand back': to take a few steps backwards 'Stand by': to be or to get ready to act #Debates2020 | 10.7× | 0 | 125k | 45k | 792 |
| 30 | Jan 30, '24 | Here are some of our favorite collective names for animals: a murder of crows a tuxedo of penguins a bask of crocodiles a destruction of cats a tower of giraffes a parliament of ow | 9.6× | 1.6M | 20k | 4k | 3.6k |
| 31 | Jul 28, '25 | grAy = America grEy = Everywhere Else | 9.2× | 1.5M | 38k | 4.1k | 1k |
| 32 | Jul 17, '17 | 'Doctor' has no gender in English. | 9.1× | 0 | 106k | 38k | 6 |
| 33 | Sep 7, '23 | *crab-walked | 9.0× | 1.5M | 21k | 2k | 278 |
| 34 | May 1, '23 | Why are they called "eggplants"? Because they used to look like this. We hope this doesn't mess up your emoji game. | 9.0× | 1.5M | 13k | 1.5k | 405 |
| 35 | Nov 26, '24 | The rumors are NOT true. Drake is not suing us because Kendrick used English words in "Not Like Us." | 8.6× | 1.4M | 33k | 4k | 1.5k |
| 36 | Apr 30, '24 | Dear @MTV We humbly nominate ‘euphoria’ by @kendricklamar for a Video Music Award for “Best Video Ever.” | 7.9× | 1.3M | 24k | 3.1k | 959 |
| 37 | Aug 20, '24 | pulchritudinous | adjective | attractive, beautiful | 7.8× | 1.3M | 46k | 4.4k | 999 |
| 38 | May 2, '24 | brb calling an emergency meeting | 7.6× | 1.3M | 22k | 2.5k | 482 |
| 39 | Jul 3, '18 | 'pore over' 🔍"to read or study very carefully" 'pour over' ☕️"to make expensive coffee" 'comb over' 💇♂️"to comb hair from the side of the head to cover the bald spot" | 5.6× | 0 | 65k | 19k | 145 |
| 40 | Jul 16, '25 | Some words go together like jelly and peanut butter… wait, that sounds super weird. A pair of words that is used in a fixed order in an idiomatic expression is called an ‘irreversi | 5.5× | 907k | 19k | 1.7k | 2.7k |
| 41 | Aug 18, '25 | Not to add to the discourse, but… It’s ‘toe the line,’ not ‘tow the line.’ It’s ‘free rein,’ and not ‘free reign.’ It’s ‘eke out,’ not ‘eek out.’ It’s ‘sleight of hand,’ not ‘sligh | 5.4× | 899k | 27k | 4.3k | 4.1k |
| 42 | Sep 12, '23 | @PatrickMahomes Proud of this edit. | 5.1× | 844k | 14k | 339 | 50 |
| 43 | Jan 22, '17 | 📈A fact is a piece of information presented as having objective reality. | 5.1× | 0 | 39k | 29k | 2 |
| 44 | Dec 1, '23 | "We will call the 12th month of the year 'December'... which means 'tenth month.'" | 4.9× | 812k | 13k | 1.1k | 153 |
| 45 | Apr 11, '17 | 📈'Volunteer' means “someone who does something without being forced to do it.” | 4.7× | 0 | 41k | 24k | 0 |
| 46 | Dec 12, '20 | The word 'doctor' comes from the Latin word for "teacher." | 4.4× | 0 | 56k | 12k | 407 |
| 47 | Oct 27, '25 | Wait until you hear about Mark… | 4.0× | 655k | 23k | 1.9k | 764 |
| 48 | Jun 23, '25 | It is perfectly acceptable to begin a sentence with ‘and.’ And it’s equally acceptable to begin a sentence with ‘but’ or ‘or.’ | 3.8× | 626k | 15k | 1.6k | 1.1k |
| 49 | Sep 17, '19 | The nonbinary pronoun 'they' has been added to the dictionary. | 3.6× | 0 | 37k | 14k | 309 |
| 50 | Aug 19, '17 | 🏥 heal (to become healthy again) 😈 heel (a contemptible person) 🙋♂️ he'll (he will) | 3.5× | 0 | 41k | 14k | 1 |
| 51 | Mar 28, '23 | It has been brought to our attention that we've been giving everyone the real definitions since 1828. Merriam-Webster Red™ has been discontinued. | 3.5× | 583k | 22k | 1.1k | 58 |
| 52 | Jul 25, '25 | Unfortunately/fortunately, if a word is used with regularity - by a certain number of people - for a certain length of time - to mean a certain and specific thing it becomes a word | 3.5× | 571k | 23k | 1.4k | 705 |
| 53 | Sep 24, '19 | You'll never guess our top search right now. | 3.3× | 0 | 48k | 8.9k | 113 |
| 54 | Apr 8, '19 | 📈'Jamais vu' is our top search today after the @BTS_twt tracklist reveal. It refers to the illusion that the familiar is being encountered for the first time. #BTS | 3.1× | 0 | 31k | 16k | 247 |
| 55 | Sep 27, '19 | For those looking up punctuation early on a Friday morning: A hyphen is a mark - used to divide or to compound words. An apostrophe is a mark ' used to indicate the omission of let | 3.1× | 0 | 40k | 8.8k | 161 |
| 56 | Mar 19, '20 | As a gift to our friends (you) in a time of crisis, we’ll be keeping a thread here of beautiful, obscure, and often quite useless words. | 3.1× | 0 | 33k | 10k | 4.3k |
| 57 | Dec 17, '16 | Good morning! The #WordOfTheDay is...not 'unpresidented'. We don't enter that word. That's a new one. | 3.1× | 0 | 26k | 16k | 0 |
| 58 | Aug 9, '18 | 📈 'Epiphany': an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure cc @BTS_twt #Epiphany | 3.0× | 0 | 29k | 17k | 165 |
| 59 | Jan 24, '17 | *whispers into the void* In contemporary use, fact is understood to refer to something with actual existence. | 2.9× | 0 | 26k | 16k | 1 |
| 60 | Sep 25, '19 | 'Transcript': 🎙 a typed copy of dictated or recorded material 'Memorandum': 📝 an informal report or message | 2.8× | 0 | 35k | 10k | 143 |
| 61 | Nov 29, '16 | 'Fascism' is still our #1 lookup. # of lookups = how we choose our Word of the Year. There's still time to look something else up. | 2.8× | 0 | 21k | 16k | 2 |
| 62 | Jul 10, '25 | We once made a dictionary with a built-in stand. | 2.7× | 451k | 23k | 1.1k | 414 |
| 63 | Nov 7, '25 | Let’s go, girls. | 2.7× | 438k | 26k | 2.2k | 593 |
| 64 | Apr 2, '25 | “I’ll be 10 min late sorry!!!” -ashamed -fragile -unreliable “A thousand apologies. The relentless slog of time has overtaken my faculties.” -powerful -commanding -honest | 2.6× | 434k | 23k | 2.5k | 2.6k |
| 65 | Aug 18, '22 | ONE OF THE DEFINITIONS OF 'LITERALLY' IS "IN EFFECT, VIRTUALLY—USED IN AN EXAGGERATED WAY TO EMPHASIZE A STATEMENT OR DESCRIPTION." SOME PEOPLE GET MAD IF YOU USE IT THIS WAY BECAU | 2.5× | 0 | 35k | 6.2k | 765 |
| 66 | Apr 25, '16 | People keep 1) saying they don't know what 'genderqueer' means then 2) asking why we added it to the dictionary | 2.4× | 0 | 19k | 15k | 40 |
| 67 | Sep 7, '16 | @gabrielroth No one cares how you feel. | 2.3× | 0 | 22k | 11k | 8 |
| 68 | Oct 1, '25 | @dxxzaii On pages made of paper and then hopefully your brain. | 2.3× | 377k | 37k | 1.4k | 319 |
| 69 | Jul 18, '18 | 'Yes': an affirmative reply 'No': a negative answer | 2.2× | 0 | 31k | 6.7k | 24 |
| 70 | Oct 1, '25 | @irishwolf99 We tried to like this twice. | 2.1× | 343k | 16k | 44 | 39 |
| 71 | Jan 18, '19 | 'Suborn' - specifically: to induce to commit perjury - broadly: to induce secretly to do an unlawful thing | 2.0× | 0 | 21k | 7.9k | 94 |
| 72 | Feb 23, '17 | 📈'Feminism' is defined as "the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities." | 2.0× | 0 | 16k | 11k | 0 |
| 73 | Dec 10, '19 | The word ‘they’ - was looked up 313% more this year than last. - had a new sense added in September. - is increasingly common in both public and personal communication. ‘They’ is o | 2.0× | 0 | 20k | 8.7k | 149 |
| 74 | Mar 30, '22 | People are talking about ‘key bumps,’ and so we have a duty to tell you some things about this. | 1.9× | 0 | 27k | 3.7k | 631 |
| 75 | Jul 18, '19 | 📈Tonight’s top searches, in order: racism, socialism, fascism, concentration camp, xenophobia, bigot | 1.8× | 0 | 20k | 7.7k | 135 |
| 76 | Dec 3, '18 | 📈'Scot-free': completely free from obligation, harm, or penalty 'Scott Free': some guy, probably | 1.8× | 0 | 21k | 6.2k | 66 |
| 77 | Jul 1, '20 | Yep. English is literally dead. | 1.8× | 0 | 25k | 3.9k | 265 |
| 78 | Sep 5, '19 | A 'mumpsimus' is a stubborn person who insists on making an error in spite of being shown that it is wrong. | 1.8× | 0 | 17k | 6.1k | 507 |
| 79 | Jan 12, '18 | Good morning! Today's #WordOfTheDay is 'reprehensible' | 1.7× | 0 | 17k | 7.4k | 3 |
| 80 | Jun 17, '18 | 📈Top lookups today: father, dad, daddy, honor, concentration camp | 1.7× | 0 | 16k | 8.2k | 45 |
| 81 | May 29, '18 | 'Canceled' and 'cancelled' are both standard variants. | 1.6× | 0 | 19k | 4.7k | 29 |
| 82 | Oct 16, '18 | Happy #DictionaryDay! In honor of birthday boy Noah Webster, we’re going to take on a probably large, probably ill-advised endeavor. So. For every one (1) like of this post, we’ll | 1.6× | 0 | 25k | 2.7k | 364 |
| 83 | Dec 12, '17 | 2017 saw both a sustained rise in 'feminism' lookups and a number of event-driven spikes. 'Feminism' is our #WordOfTheYear. | 1.5× | 0 | 14k | 7.4k | 1 |
| 84 | Jul 11, '17 | 📈 Top lookups in order: collusion, treason, collude, quid pro quo, kakistocracy | 1.5× | 0 | 15k | 7.7k | 1 |
| 85 | Mar 3, '17 | OK, OK. Here. Bye. | 1.5× | 0 | 16k | 6.3k | 1 |
| 86 | Oct 2, '19 | 'Moot' (n) : ⚖️ a deliberative assembly primarily for the administration of justice; especially : one held by the freemen of an Anglo-Saxon community 'Moat' (n) : 🐊 a deep wide di | 1.5× | 0 | 19k | 4.1k | 74 |
| 87 | Nov 2, '20 | This "recently" happened in 1934. You'll be fine. | 1.5× | 0 | 25k | 1.7k | 92 |
| 88 | Apr 3, '25 | @JenniePalmer Feel free to look those up, Jennifer. | 1.4× | 228k | 17k | 360 | 169 |
| 89 | May 30, '17 | Good morning! Today's #WordOfTheDay is 'abdicate' | 1.4× | 0 | 13k | 5.7k | 0 |
| 90 | Sep 20, '19 | Good morning! Today's #WordOfTheDay is 'misprision' | 1.3× | 0 | 12k | 5.4k | 56 |
| 91 | Sep 21, '17 | 📈 Kim Jong Un calls Trump a mentally deranged U.S. dotard. Searches for 'dotard' are high as a kite. | 1.3× | 0 | 12k | 6k | 2 |
| 92 | Apr 3, '25 | Also! We just realized that we have the same initials: 'MW.' (Merriam-Webster & Mr. Worldwide) | 1.2× | 197k | 16k | 370 | 87 |
| 93 | May 11, '17 | The phrase 'priming the pump' dates to the early 19th century. | 1.2× | 0 | 13k | 4.8k | 1 |
| 94 | Jan 25, '19 | 📈We're seeing a 1500% spike on 'cave' this evening. | 1.1× | 0 | 14k | 3.9k | 30 |
| 95 | Sep 6, '19 | @LilNasX nice | 1.0× | 0 | 19k | 1.1k | 39 |
| 96 | Sep 24, '19 | Okay a few people got it. 📈'Impeach' is up 3600% | 1.0× | 0 | 16k | 2.4k | 19 |
| 97 | Dec 10, '18 | Today in Spellcheck Can't Save You: 'Smocking' is a type of embroidery made of many small folds sewn into place. | 1.0× | 0 | 11k | 3.6k | 28 |
| 98 | Nov 7, '17 | 'Brooding' (as in "sullenly thoughtful or serious") has a literal original meaning of "sitting on eggs." | 0.9× | 0 | 16k | 1.7k | 56 |
| 99 | Oct 11, '22 | DEFCON refers to any one of five levels of readiness used by the U.S. military. DEFCON 5 is used for the lowest perceived threat, and DEFCON 1 for the highest. The word is a blend | 0.9× | 0 | 14k | 1.6k | 177 |
| 100 | Apr 13, '18 | @neiltyson Neil. | 0.9× | 0 | 14k | 1.8k | 22 |
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