Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 15, 2025 is: impervious • \im-PER-vee-us\  • adjective Impervious describes that which does not allow something (such as water or light) to enter or pass through. It is also used formally to mean “not bothered or affected by something.” Both senses of impervious are usually used with to. // The material is impervious to water. // The mayor seems impervious to criticism. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impervious] Examples: “All of this ups the already sky-high stakes for ‘Superman,’ which relaunches the DC Universe under the direction of Gunn and Peter Safran. The film is the studio’s best hope at fielding a billion-dollar blockbuster in 2025, but even the Man of Steel isn’t impervious to box office Kryptonite.” — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 17 Jan. 2025 Did you know? Finding your way through some words’ etymologies can lead to surprising discoveries [https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/words-with-surprising-histories] of origins that seemingly have little to do with their modern-day meanings. Impervious, which entered English in the early 1600s, is not one of those words—its history is entirely straightforward. The Latin ancestor of impervious is impervius, which adds the prefix im-, meaning “not,” to pervius, meaning “passable or penetrable.” Pervius in turn comes from per, meaning “through,” and via, meaning “way.” Impervious, it follows, describes things that don’t allow a way through something, whether literally (as in “asphalt, concrete, and other surfaces that are impervious to rain”) or figuratively (as in “impervious to criticism/pressure”). The opposite of impervious, pervious [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pervious], entered English at around the same time, but it is much less common [https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/kempt-couth-ruly-gruntled].

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 14, 2025 is: scuttlebutt • \SKUTT-ul-butt\  • noun Scuttlebutt refers to rumor or gossip—in other words, talk or stories about someone or something that may not be true. // According to the scuttlebutt in the financial markets, the company will be downsizing soon. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scuttlebutt] Examples: “If highly social otters want the local scuttlebutt, so to speak, they can pick up information through the scents fellow otters leave behind at communal latrines that a group of otters will create and use.” — Lisa Meyers McClintick, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 2 Mar. 2025 Did you know? When office workers catch up on the latest scuttlebutt around the water cooler, they are continuing a long-standing tradition that probably also occurred on sailing ships of yore. Back in the early 1800s, scuttlebutt (an alteration of scuttled butt) referred to a cask containing a ship’s daily supply of fresh water (scuttle [https://bit.ly/4jeDqAb] means “to cut a hole through the bottom,” and butt [https://bit.ly/44rYyyg] means “cask”); that name was later applied to a drinking fountain on a ship or at a naval installation [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/installation]. In time, the term for the water source was also applied to the gossip and rumors disseminated around it, and the latest chatter has been called “scuttlebutt” ever since.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 13, 2025 is: apotropaic • \ap-uh-troh-PAY-ik\  • adjective Something described as apotropaic is designed or intended to avert evil. // The etchings are believed to be associated with ancient apotropaic rituals. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apotropaic] Examples: “Scholars ... say witches were believed to be attracted to the scent of a human shoe and, having entered one, found themselves trapped. Footwear is one of a mindboggling array of items used in apotropaic magic, designed to turn away harm or evil influence.” — Pete Pheasant, The Derby (England) Telegraph, 13 Mar. 2025 Did you know? Apotropaic is a charming word, and not just because of its cadence [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cadence]. You see, this term is a literal descriptor for things believed to protect against evil. Apotropaic motifs can be found throughout history, from carvings of Greek Gorgons [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gorgon] to charms worn to repel the evil eye [https://bit.ly/3XS2BQp]. The word apotropaic comes from the Greek verb apotrépein, meaning “to turn away from, avert,” combining apo- (“away”) with trépein (“to turn”). The magic of apo- doesn’t end there: its influence is evident in many English words, including apology [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apology], apostrophe [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apostrophe], apostle [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apostle], and apocalypse [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apocalypse].

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 12, 2025 is: fester • \FESS-ter\  • verb Something that festers becomes worse as time passes. Fester can also mean, in the context of wounds, sores, etc., “to become painful and infected.” // We should deal with these problems now instead of allowing them to fester. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fester] Examples: “Minor plumbing leaks left to fester have snowballed into water seeping down walls and out of light fixtures ...” — Devyani Chhetri, The Dallas Morning News, 11 Mar. 2025 Did you know? Both noun and verb forms of the English word fester come from the Latin noun fistula, meaning “pipe” or, less pleasantly, “fistulous [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fistulous] ulcer.” Accordingly, the noun fester refers to a sore that forms or discharges pus, while the oldest sense of the verb fester means “to generate pus.” A boil [https://bit.ly/4idZOYV], for example, is a festering infection of a hair follicle. Over time, the verb—as many words do—picked up a figurative sense, and fester began to be used not only for the worsening of a wound but for a worsening state, situation, etc.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 11, 2025 is: darling • \DAHR-ling\  • noun Darling can refer to a dearly loved person or to someone who is liked very much by a person or group. It can also mean “a kind and helpful person” as in, “Be a darling and carry this inside for me, would you?” // Our baby grandchild is just the sweetest little darling. // The actor has become a darling of the entertainment industry in both film and music. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/darling] Examples: “Rocking a BAPE hoodie and a slight nervousness, Jorjiana performed a freestyle and her most popular song, ‘ILBB2.’ And then boom: There’s no such thing as an overnight success, but it did seem as if Jorjiana was a social media darling by the next day.” — Damien Scott, Billboard, 20 Feb. 2025 Did you know? The opening lines of the rock band Wilco’s [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wilco] song “My Darling,” sung from the perspective of a parent calming their sleepless child, demonstrate a very common use of the word darling: “Go back to sleep now, my darling / And I’ll keep all the bad dreams away.” Darling is an ancient word, traceable all the way back to the Old English noun dēorling, which was formed by attaching the suffix -ling [https://bit.ly/4iYq2j5] to the adjective dēore, the ancestor of dear [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dear], which describes that which is regarded very affectionately or fondly, is highly valued or esteemed, or is beloved. Darling, as in “my darling,” is often used as a term of endearment, whether for a child or a sweetheart, but it can also be used as a synonym of the noun favorite, as in “the word darling has proven itself a darling of songwriters for many centuries.”