Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 6, 2025 is:

sensibility • \sen-suh-BIL-uh-tee\  • noun

Sensibility is a formal word often used in its plural form to refer someone?s personal or cultural approach to what they encounter, as in ?the speaker made sure to tailor his speech to the sensibilities of his audience.? Sensibility can also be used for the kind of feelings a person tends to have in general, as well as for the ability to feel and understand emotions.

// Many older cartoons feel out of line with modern sensibilities.

// She brought an artistic sensibility to every facet of her life, not just her celebrated painting.

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Examples:

?[Lady] Gaga?s absurdist sensibilities have long been an underrated facet of her work?probably because she?s so good at delivering them with a straight face.? ? Rich Juzwiak, Pitchfork, 10 Mar. 2025

Did you know?

The meanings of sensibility run the gamut from mere sensation to excessive sentimentality, but we?re here to help you make sense of it all. In between is a capacity for delicate appreciation, a sense often pluralized. In Jane Austen?s books, sensibility is mostly an admirable quality she attributes to, or finds lacking in, her characters: ?He had ... a sensibility to what was amiable and lovely? (of Mr. Elliot in Persuasion). In Sense and Sensibility, however, Austen starts out by ascribing to Marianne sensibleness, on the one hand, but an ?excess of sensibility? on the other: ?Her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation ... she was everything but prudent.?

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 5, 2025 is:

inoculate • \ih-NAHK-yuh-layt\  • verb

To inoculate a person or animal is to introduce immunologically active material (such as an antibody or antigen) into them especially in order to treat or prevent a disease. Inoculate can also mean "to introduce (something, such as a microorganism) into a suitable situation for growth," and in figurative use, it can mean "to protect as if by inoculation" or "to introduce something into the mind of."

// In 1796, the English physician Edward Jenner discovered that inoculating people with cowpox could provide immunity against smallpox.

// The cheese is inoculated with a starter culture to promote fermentation.

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Examples:

"Truffle farmers ... inoculate oak or hazelnut seedlings with truffle spores, plant the seedlings and wait patiently often a decade or more for the underground relationship to mature. The eventual harvest is a reward for years of cooperation between tree and fungus." ? David Shubin, The Weekly Calistogan (Calistoga, California), 30 Oct. 2025

Did you know?

If you think you see a connection between inoculate and ocular ("of or relating to the eye"), you have a good eye?both words look back to oculus, the Latin word for "eye." But what does the eye have to do with inoculation? Our answer lies in the original use of inoculate in Middle English: "to insert a bud into a plant for propagation." The Latin oculus was sometimes applied to things that were seen to resemble eyes, and one such thing was the bud of a plant. Inoculate was later applied to other forms of engrafting or implanting, including the introduction of vaccines as a preventative against disease.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 4, 2025 is:

frowsy • \FROW-zee\  • adjective

Something described as frowsy has a messy or dirty appearance.

// The lamp, discovered in a neglected corner of a frowsy antique store, turned out to be quite valuable.

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Examples:

?Footage from his early shows is sublime. In one, models with frowsy hair totter along the catwalk in clogs, clutching?for reasons not explained?dead mackerel.? ? Jess Cartner-Morley, The Guardian (London), 4 Mar. 2024

Did you know?

Despite its meanings suggesting neglect and inattention, frowsy has been kept in steady rotation by English users since the late 1600s. The word (which is also spelled frowzy and has enjoyed other variants over the centuries) first wafted into the language in an olfactory sense describing that which smells fusty and musty?an old factory, perhaps, or ?corrupt air from animal substance,? which Benjamin Franklin described as ?frouzy? in a 1773 letter. Frowsy later gained an additional sense describing the appearance of something (or someone) disheveled or unkempt. Charles Dickens was a big fan of this usage, writing of ?frowzy fields, and cowhouses? in Dombey and Son and ?a frowzy fringe? of hair hanging about someone?s ears in The Old Curiosity Shop. Both senses are still in use today.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 3, 2025 is:

alchemy • \AL-kuh-mee\  • noun

Alchemy refers to a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way.

// They practiced their alchemy in the kitchen, turning a pile of vegetables and legumes into an extravagant meal.

// The shopkeepers hoped for some sort of economic alchemy that would improve business.

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Examples:

?Forty years ago, the Nintendo Entertainment System hit North American shores, singlehandedly resurrecting the video-game market after its infamous post-Atari crash in 1983. To do so, it needed a heavy hitter, a killer must-have title that could put butts in seats and lock audiences into the tube TV until their eyes bleed. That game was Super Mario Bros.?a product so potent, its exact alchemy has never been re-created.? ? Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 18 Oct. 2025

Did you know?

Alchemy?the medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy that focused on the attempt to change less valuable metals into gold, to find a universal cure for disease, and to discover a means of prolonging life indefinitely?was practiced in much of the ancient world, from China and India to Greece. Alchemy as practiced in ancient Egypt was later revived in 12th-century Europe through translations of Arabic texts into Latin, which led to the development of pharmacology and to the rise of modern chemistry. The word alchemy was first used in English in the 1400s, and by the mid-1500s it had developed figurative senses relating to powers and processes that can change or transform things in mysterious or impressive ways.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 2, 2025 is:

cajole • \kuh-JOHL\  • verb

To cajole someone is to use flattery or gentle urging to persuade them to do something or to give you something. Cajole can also mean ?to deceive with soothing words or false promises.? It is often used with the word into.

// She cajoled her partner into going to the party with her.

// They hoped to cajole him into cooperating with local officials.

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Examples:

?... I cajoled my father into letting me use the company season tickets which were supposed to be used for clients, but sometimes wound up in my hands.? ? Sal Maiorana, The Rochester (New York) Democrat and Chronicle, 22 Oct. 2025

Did you know?

However hard we try, we can?t cajole the full history of cajole from the cages of obscurity. We know that it comes from the French verb cajoler, meaning ?to give much attention to; to make a fuss over; to flatter or persuade with flattery,? and goes back to the Middle French cajoller, meaning ?to flatter out of self-interest.? But the next chapter of the word?s history may, or may not, be for the birds: it?s possible that cajoller relates to the Middle French verb cageoller, used for the action of a jay or other bird singing. Cageoller, in turn, traces back to gaiole, a word meaning ?birdcage? in a dialect of Picardy.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 1, 2025 is:

pseudonym • \SOO-duh-nim\  • noun

A pseudonym is a name that someone (such as a writer) uses instead of their real name.

// bell hooks is the pseudonym of the American writer Gloria Jean Watkins.

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Examples:

?Edgar Wright, the filmmaker and genre specialist who has given the world modern gems like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Baby Driver, estimates he was around 13 years old when he read ?the Bachman Books,? a collection of four novels that Stephen King published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman during the early years of his career.? ? Don Kaye, Den of Geek, 9 Oct. 2025

Did you know?

Pseudonym has its origins in the Greek adjective pseud?nymos, which means ?bearing a false name.? French speakers adopted the Greek word as the noun pseudonyme, and English speakers later modified the French word into pseudonym. Many celebrated authors have used pseudonyms. Samuel Clemens wrote under the pseudonym ?Mark Twain,? Charles Lutwidge Dodgson assumed the pseudonym ?Lewis Carroll,? and Mary Ann Evans used ?George Eliot? as her pseudonym.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 30, 2025 is:

iconoclast • \eye-KAH-nuh-klast\  • noun

Iconoclast originally referred to someone who destroys religious images or who opposes their veneration. It is now used to refer broadly to anyone who criticizes or opposes beliefs and practices that are widely accepted.

// The comedian had developed a reputation as a contrarian and an iconoclast for whom no topic was off-limits.

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Examples:

?Chicago will be the only U.S. city to see the 92-year-old iconoclast Yoko Ono?s new show. ... ?Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind? goes back to the start of the artist?s career in the mid-?50s, and the role she played in the creative worlds of New York, Tokyo and London.? ? Carrie Shepherd, Axios, 1 Apr. 2025

Did you know?

Iconoclast comes from the Middle Greek word eikonoklást?s, which translates literally as ?image destroyer.? While the destruction wrought by today?s iconoclasts is figurative?in modern use, an iconoclast is someone who criticizes or opposes beliefs and practices that are widely accepted?the first iconoclasts directed their ire at religious icons, those representations of sacred individuals used as objects of veneration. The Byzantine Empire?s Iconoclastic Controversy occurred in the 8th and 9th centuries, but the word iconoclast didn?t find its way to English until the 17th century. Figurative use came later still.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 29, 2025 is:

exculpatory • \ek-SKUL-puh-tor-ee\  • adjective

Something described as exculpatory serves to prove that someone is not guilty of doing something wrong.

// Their lawyer presented insurmountable exculpatory evidence at the trial.

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Examples:

?That agreement also requires prosecutors to implement new policies to prevent the misuse of informants, maintain records and audits, and to disclose exculpatory evidence to criminal defendants involving snitches.? ? Salvador Hernandez, The Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2025

Did you know?

Exculpatory is the adjectival form of the verb exculpate, meaning ?to clear from guilt.? The pair of words cannot be accused of being secretive?their joint etymology reveals all: they are tied to the Medieval Latin verb exculpare, a word that combines the prefix ex-, meaning ?out of? or ?away from,? with the Latin noun culpa, meaning ?blame.? The related but lesser-known terms inculpate (?to incriminate?) and inculpatory (?implying or imputing guilt?) are antonyms of exculpate and exculpatory. A related adjective, culpable, describes someone or something deserving of blame. All of these words are found most often in formal speech and writing, but if you choose to drop them into everyday conversation, your dictionary exculpates you.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 28, 2025 is:

sustain • \suh-STAYN\  • verb

To sustain someone or something is to provide what is needed for that person or thing to exist or continue. Sustain also means "to hold up the weight of," "to suffer or endure," or "to confirm or prove." In legal contexts, to sustain something is to decide or state that it is proper, legal, or fair.

// Hope sustained us during that difficult time.

// The shed roof collapsed, unable to sustain the weight of all the snow.

// The athlete sustained serious injuries during last week's game.

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Examples:

"Pushing fallen leaves into garden beds to insulate plants and nourish the soil will also shelter hibernating insects that, in turn, will sustain ground-feeding birds. It's much better for the ecosystem?and easier for the gardener?than bagging them up and sending them to a landfill." ? Jessica Damiano, The Chicago Daily Herald, 12 Oct. 2025

Did you know?

The word sustain is both handy and hardy. Its use has been sustained since the days of Middle English (it traces back to the Latin verb sustin?re meaning "to hold up" or "to sustain") by its utility across a variety of consequential subjects, from environmental protections to legal proceedings to medical reports. The word is so prevalent and so varied in its application, in fact, that it enjoys sustained high ranking as one of our top lookups?evidence of our readers' sustained commitment to, well, sustaining themselves with information about words.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 27, 2025 is:

cornucopia • \kor-nuh-KOH-pee-uh\  • noun

A cornucopia, also known as a horn of plenty, is a curved, hollow goat?s horn or similarly shaped receptacle (such as a horn-shaped basket) that is overflowing, especially with fruit and vegetables. The image of a cornucopia is commonly used as decoration and as a symbol of abundance, but the word cornucopia is today more often encountered in its metaphorical use referring to an overflowing abundance, or to a seemingly inexhaustible amount of something.

// The zoo?s new aviary is a veritable cornucopia of color and sound, with scores of different bird species swooping and squawking through the canopy.

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Examples:

?It was rather dark in there. ... However, the counters and their cornucopia of offerings were brightly lit. Want chocolate bars? Nasal sprays? Gummy bears? Bath bombs? Tinctures? Vapes? Mints? Jellies? Peanut butter cups? Lemonade? Fruit punch?? ? Marla Jo Fisher, The Orange County (California) Register, 1 Sept. 2025

Did you know?

Cornucopia comes from the Late Latin phrase cornu copiae, which translates literally as ?horn of plenty.? A traditional staple of feasts, the cornucopia is believed to represent the horn of a goat from Greek mythology. According to legend, it was from this horn, which could be filled with whatever the owner wished, that the god Zeus was fed as an infant by his nurse, the nymph Amalthaea. Later, the horn was filled with flowers and fruits, and given as a present to Zeus. The filled horn (or a receptacle resembling it) has long served as a traditional symbol in art and decoration to suggest a store of abundance. The word first appeared in English in the early 16th century; a century later, it developed the figurative sense of ?an overflowing supply.?