Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 10, 2025 is: hidebound • \HYDE-bound\  • adjective Someone or something described as hidebound is inflexible and unwilling to accept new or different ideas. // Although somewhat stuffy and strict, the professor did not so completely adhere to hidebound academic tradition that he wouldn’t teach class outside on an especially lovely day. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hidebound] Examples: “He was exciting then, different from all the physicists I worked with in the way that he was so broadly educated and interested, not hidebound and literal, as my colleagues were.” — Joe Mungo Reed, Terrestrial History: A Novel, 2025 Did you know? Hidebound has its origins in agriculture. The adjective, which appeared in English in the early 17th century, originally described cattle whose skin, due to illness or poor feeding, clung to the skeleton and could not be pinched, loosened, or worked with the fingers (the adjective followed an earlier noun form referring to this condition). Hidebound was applied to humans too, to describe people afflicted with tight skin. Figurative use quickly followed, first with a meaning of “stingy” or “miserly.” That sense has since fallen out of use, but a second figurative usage, describing people who are rigid or unyielding in their actions or beliefs, lives on in our language today.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 9, 2025 is: behemoth • \bih-HEE-muth\  • noun A behemoth is something of monstrous size, power, or appearance. Behemoth (usually capitalized) is also the name of a mighty animal described in the biblical book of Job. // The town will be voting on whether or not to let the retail behemoth build a store on the proposed site. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/behemoth] Examples: "The author ... recounts how his grandfather turned a family spinach farm into an industrial behemoth, and exposes the greed and malfeasance behind the prosperous facade." — The New York Times, 6 July 2025 Did you know? In the biblical book of Job, Behemoth is the name of a powerful grass-eating, river-dwelling beast with bones likened to bronze pipes and limbs likened to iron bars. Scholars have speculated that the biblical creature was inspired by the hippopotamus [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hippopotamus], but details about the creature’s exact nature are vague. The word first passed from the Hebrew word bĕhēmōth into Late Latin (the Latin used by writers in the third to sixth centuries), where, according to 15th century English poet and monk John Lydgate [https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Lydgate] it referred to "a beast rude full of cursednesse." In modern English, behemoth functions as an evocative term for something of monstrous size, power, or appearance.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 8, 2025 is: winsome • \WIN-sum\  • adjective Winsome describes people and things that are cheerful, pleasant, and appealing. // Though a relative newcomer to acting, Maya won the casting directors over with her winsome charm, which was perfect for the role of the plucky young superhero. // Our winsome guide put us at ease immediately. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/winsome] Examples: “Wilson’s take on Snow White is surprisingly winsome. It delivers a familiar story with a fresh perspective and some unexpected sources of nostalgia.” — Kristy Puchko, Mashable, 19 March 2025 Did you know? Despite appearances, winsome bears no relation to the familiar word win [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/win], meaning “to achieve victory.” The Old English predecessor of winsome is wynsum, which in turn comes from the noun wynn, meaning “joy” or “pleasure.” And the ancestor of win is the Old English verb winnan, meaning “to labor or strive.” Given those facts, one might guess that the adjective winning [https://bit.ly/44Eexb3], meaning “tending to please or delight,” as in “a winning personality,” is a winsome relation, but in fact it’s in the win/winnan lineage. Winning is more common today than the similar winsome in such constructions as “a winning/winsome smile,” but we sense no hard feelings between the two. It’s just the way things (lexically) go: you win some, you lose some.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 7, 2025 is: adjudicate • \uh-JOO-dih-kayt\  • verb To adjudicate a dispute between two parties is to make an official decision about which party is right; to adjudicate a case or claim is to settle it judicially. Adjudicate is also used to mean “to act as judge.” // The case will be adjudicated in the state courts. // The property title cannot be transferred until a case concerning the affected rights of way is adjudicated. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adjudicate] Examples: “… [Pete] Rose’s candidacy won’t be adjudicated on the writers’ ballot. According to the Hall’s voting rules, players who are retired for more than 15 years are considered not by 400-plus writers but rather a smaller ‘era committee,’ comprised of a mixture of former players, executives, and media members.” — Scott Lauber, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 May 2025 Did you know? Adjudicate, which is usually used to mean “to make an official decision about who is right in a dispute,” is one of several terms that give testimony to the influence of jus, the Latin word for “law,” on our legal language. Others include judgment [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/judgment], judicial [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/judicial], prejudice [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prejudice], jury [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jury], justice [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justice], injury [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/injury], and perjury [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perjury]. What’s the verdict? Latin “law” words frequently preside in English-speaking courtrooms.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 6, 2025 is: largesse • \lahr-ZHESS\  • noun Largesse is a somewhat formal word that refers to the act of giving away money or the generosity of a person who gives away money. It can also refer to the money that is given away. // The community has benefited greatly from the largesse of its wealthiest family. // The local business owner is a philanthropist [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/philanthropist] known for his largesse. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/largesse] Examples: "Over the years, ShelterBox USA, an outgrowth of the Rotary Club and named for the relief boxes it distributes, has helped nearly 3 million people in some of the world’s worst disaster zones. It hands out basic survival needs: tents, tools, and household supplies. Twice the organization has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for its life-preserving largesse." — The Olney (Texas) Enterprise, 20 Mar. 2025 Did you know? The English language has benefited from the largesse of Anglo-French, through which a generous number of words have passed; examples range from simple [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/simple] to account [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/account] to desert [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desert]. English speakers owe Anglo-French a huge thanks, in particular, for its adjective large. That word, meaning "generous, broad, or wide," is the source of both largesse and the familiar duo of large [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/large] and enlarge [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enlarge]. Most people understand enlarge to mean "to make larger," but a less common sense (used in Shakespeare's Henry V) is "to set free." Largesse also contains the notion of freedom, specifically with regard to a lack of financial constraints: it's not about having a "large" amount of money but rather being "free" with it. Incidentally, the English word large wasn't about size when it was first adopted in the 13th century. Back then it meant "lavish."