raffish

raffish

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 20, 2026 is: raffish • \RAF-ish\  • adjective Raffish describes people and things that show a careless but usually attractive unconventionality. // She didn't expect to like him but his raffish charm quickly won her over. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/raffish] Examples: "Three or four decades ago, the newspaperman was appealingly raffish—at once a bum who drank too much and a knight-errant who charged unafraid at social injustice, succored the weak, and crossed lances with the powerful and arrogant." — David Wingrave, Harper's Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025 Did you know? Raffish combines the English noun raff [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/raff] with the suffix -ish [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ish], which in this case means "characteristic of": when we use the word raffish, we literally mean "resembling raff." But what exactly is raff? You might be more familiar with raff's synonym, riffraff [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/riffraff], which refers to disreputable people of low social status. Despite the resemblance, these two nouns are distinct in origin. Raff comes directly from the Middle English raf, meaning "rubbish," while riffraff descends from the Anglo-French rif e raf, meaning "altogether." The similarities between raff and riffraff prompted people to start using the two words as synonyms, and raff gained a "rabble [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rabble]" sense. It was that ragtag raff that gave rise to the adjective raffish in the late 1700s.

accentuate

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 19, 2026 is: accentuate • \ak-SEN-shu-wayt\  • verb To accentuate something is to make it more noticeable. // He likes to wear clothes that accentuate his muscular build. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accentuate] Examples: “My mother could make me anything I wanted to be. As a child she transformed me into a swan, a mermaid, a white Persian cat dressed like an elegant Victorian lady with a porkpie hat and a ruffled bustle to accentuate my tail. She’d trained as a costume designer.” — Perdita Finn, Mothers of Magic: Summoning the Wisdom of Our Ancestors, 2026 Did you know? When you accentuate something you put an “accent,” or emphasis, on it. Stress [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stress] not about the word’s history; its journey into the English language was very straightforward. It comes from the Latin accentus, meaning “accent” [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accent] (which itself comes in part from cantus, meaning “song”), and since the early 18th century, its meanings haven’t changed much. The word was initially used as a synonym of the verb accent to mean “to pronounce with greater stress or force,” which is a small leap from today’s meaning of “to make something more noticeable; to emphasize.” One excellent way to remember not only how to pronounce accentuate but also its etymological connection to song is the classic (and helpfully titled) tune “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,” by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, which has been performed by such luminaries as Dinah Washington, Sam Cooke, and Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters.

quid pro quo

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 18, 2026 is: quid pro quo • \kwid-proh-KWOH\  • noun Quid pro quo refers to something that is given to you or done for you in return for something you have given to or done for someone else. // If they do us this favor, they’ll expect a quid pro quo. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quid-pro-quo] Examples: “For each proposal, it’s almost guaranteed you’ll have to negotiate with at least one faction, which usually involves some kind of quid pro quo. Maybe you agree to pass a policy they want next, or to advance research on a new technology of their choice.” — Deven McClure, Polygon, 24 Jan. 2026 Did you know? In the 1500s, a quid pro quo was something obtained from an apothecary. That’s because when quid pro quo (New Latin for “something for something”) was first used as a phrase in English it appeared especially in situations where one medicine was substituted for another—whether intentionally (and sometimes fraudulently) or accidentally. The meaning of the phrase was quickly extended, however, and within several decades it was being used for more general equivalent exchanges, and as a noun for the act of substituting, or the substituted thing itself. By the mid-1600s the noun could be used for a bargain made between two parties involving the giving of one thing in return for another, e.g. “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.” Although such bargains are not inherently illegal, this sense of quid pro quo often appears today in legal contexts where the giving and taking is less than completely lawful.

obdurate

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 17, 2026 is: obdurate • \AHB-duh-rut\  • adjective Obdurate is a formal word that means "resistant to persuasion." It is usually used to describe someone who is not willing to change their methods or opinions, or something that is not easily altered. // Though obdurate problems loom, the organization under its new leadership is poised to make real and effective changes. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obdurate] Examples: "... even great careers must end sometime, and as often as not against obdurate wills." — Greg Baum, The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 Dec. 2025 Did you know? When trying to persuade someone who has an obdurate disposition, you may end up feeling rather dour [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dour] about your ability to change their mind. To endure [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endure] such encounters in the future, you may find that you need to be more durable [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/durable] and not let the person's mulishness get you down. Maybe you will find such situations less stressful if you can face them knowing that the words obdurate, dour, endure, and durable are etymological kissing cousins [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kissing-cousins]. All trace back to the Latin adjective durus, which means "hard."

bibelot

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 16, 2026 is: bibelot • \BEE-buh-loh\  • noun A bibelot is a small household ornament or decorative object. // His grandfather set up a table every week at the flea market where he sold all sorts of bibelots and bric-a-brac, from ceramic figurines to tiny blown glass sculptures. See the entry > [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bibelot] Examples: “One by one, the beads and baubles and charms and bibelots have been cleaned and polished and now they are being placed on shelves, in jars and containers, in bins, and in a bathtub in Beadniks’ new store on Main Street.” — Bob Audette, The Brattleboro (Vermont) Reformer, 21 June 2025 Did you know? The English language, it would seem, can’t get enough of synonyms for trinket [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trinket], including gewgaw [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gewgaw], gimcrack [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gimcrack], and knickknack [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knickknack], just as lovers of tchotchkes [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tchotchke] can’t get enough of such ornamental trifles. Lady Charlotte Guest (1812-1895) was just such a lover of baubles and bric-a-brac. Not only was Guest an accomplished linguist, educator, publisher, and philanthropist, she also amassed collections of everything from porcelain to playing cards, which she ultimately donated to museums. We also have Guest to thank for the first known use in English of the French word for “trinket,” bibelot, which she recorded in a journal entry in 1873 while in Paris: “After 3, walked up to Lady Hopetoun’s to amuse her with some of our little bibelots.”