Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 16, 2025 is: junket • \JUNK-ut\  • noun Junket refers to a trip that is paid for by someone else, such as a promotional trip made at another's expense, or an official's trip made at public expense. // The cast of the widely-acclaimed movie is making press junkets to major cities. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/junket] Examples: "... our regents [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regent] are doing nothing to curtail the expectation that presidents and schools must pay dearly for board members to attend obscenely expensive junkets and entertain them while they're doing the taxpayers' business." — Janelle Stecklein, The Oklahoman Online (Oklahoma City, OK), 7 Apr. 2025 Did you know? Junket has traveled a long road, and its journey began with a basket made of rushes [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rush]—that is, marsh plants commonly used in weaving and basketwork. The Latin word for "rush" is juncus, which English borrowed and adapted into various forms until settling on junket. That word was used in English to name not just the plant and the baskets made from the plant, but also a type of cream cheese made in rush baskets. Since at least the 15th century, the word has named a variety of comestibles, ranging from curds and cream to sweet confections. (Junket even today also names a dessert [https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/7-words-for-types-of-desserts-syllabub-sundae-affogato/junket].) By the 16th century, junket had come to mean "banquet" or "feast" as well. Apparently, traveling must have been involved to reach some junkets because eventually the term broadened to apply to pleasure outings or trips, whether or not food was the focus. Today, the word usually refers either to a trip made by a government official and paid for by the public, or to a free trip by a member of the press to a place where something, such as a new movie, is being promoted.

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.