Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day artwork

Books · Merriam-Webster

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

by Merriam-Webster

Free daily dose of word power from Merriam-Webster's experts

Chart trend

Position in the Books chart (US), last 90 days.

#10
all-time peak
1
day in the top 10 since Nov 2024

Latest episodes

Showing 13 · updated from the feed

recalcitrant

#17 trending · Arts

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 3, 2026 is: recalcitrant • \rih-KAL-suh-trunt\  • adjective Recalcitrant is a formal word typically

Sep 3
1 min

dissonant

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 2, 2026 is: dissonant • \DISS-uh-nunt\  • adjective Dissonant typically describes music that is not

Sep 2
1 min

conscientious

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 1, 2026 is: conscientious • \kahn-shee-EN-shus\  • adjective Conscientious describes someone who is

Sep 1
2 min

gumption

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 31, 2026 is: gumption • \GUMP-shun\  • noun Gumption refers to courage and confidence. // It took a lo

Aug 31
1 min

illustrious

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 30, 2026 is: illustrious • \ih-LUSS-tree-us\  • adjective Illustrious describes a person or deed that i

Aug 30
2 min

kith

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 29, 2026 is: kith • \KITH\  • noun Kith is an old-fashioned term that refers to familiar friends, neigh

Aug 29
1 min

cogent

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 28, 2026 is: cogent • \KOH-junt\  • adjective Cogent is a formal word that describes something that is

Aug 28
2 min

southpaw

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 27, 2026 is: southpaw • \SOUTH-paw\  • noun Southpaw is an informal word for someone who is left-handed

Aug 27
1 min

devolve

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 26, 2026 is: devolve • \dih-VAHLV\  • verb To devolve is to gradually go from an advanced state to a le

Aug 26
2 min

tilde

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 25, 2026 is: tilde • \TIL-duh\  • noun Tilde refers to the mark ~ placed especially over the letter n (

Aug 25
2 min

expeditious

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 24, 2026 is: expeditious • \ek-spuh-DISH-us\  • adjective Expeditious is a formal word that is used to

Aug 24
2 min

prowess

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 23, 2026 is: prowess • \PROW-us\  • noun Prowess refers to someone’s great ability, skill, or talent fo

Aug 23
2 min

august

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 22, 2026 is: august • \aw-GUST\  • adjective The word august, which is pronounced with the accent on "g

Aug 22
1 min

Chart positions

Where Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 3, 2026).

#86 ▼ 6 Arts US
#29 ▼ 5 Books US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

As a septuagenarian logophile in 5+ languages, this podcast is a short highlight of my day, especially when it delves into etymologies and linguistic evolution. Keep up this excellently produced podcast. It should be required listening at the beginning of every English class daily throughout the English-speaking world.

He who knows, knows... · May 2025

Thanks for a wonderful podcast. The new music is great. I particularly enjoy the in depth etymology. Peter Sokolowski’s pace is perfect.

herstory history · Mar 2022

This podcast by Merriam-Webster is the audio version of their Word of the Day email newsletter. Written to educate listeners on a fresh word every day. It covers the word’s meaning, uses over time, origins, and other fun facts about it. I really enjoy queuing a few at the beginning of my day’s feed. All of the contexts for each word makes it really easy to remember them. Even if I know the word, I can still learn something new about it. It might be one of the most useful podcasts I follow. Hosted by Peter Sokolowski the show is 4.4 out of 5 and 933 Ratings. Apple Podcasts only seems to have the latest 10 episodes but through art19.com I was able to find every episode back to the show’s air date on 10/24/2006. Since then, the show has posted a word of the day every single day including holidays for 5,389 three-minute-long episodes total. The pod has had some technical issues in the distant past but have since been cleared up including download issues, mistitled episodes, and uneven volume for intro and ads. The pod is 15 years old, so some growing pains are expected. Ads seem to be the chief complaint among listeners, but I think they’re fine especially if you only listen to one or two a day. Similar Pods: Spectacular Vernacular, The Allusionist, and A Way with Words. For more reviews check out @themastercast on instagram and @mastercastpods on twitter

applezmoi · Nov 2021

I personally love this. I am an aspiring writer and love expanding my vocabulary. They go into every necessary detail of each word and give multiple examples and uses. It’s fantastic, I am so excited for more. Yes there is a single ad in every episode but let’s be honest here. It’s a podcast about 1 word every day. each episode is a couple minutes long at most and the developers need revenue. Don’t listen to the complaints about ads. You’re listening to a free podcast. Learn to live with the ads. Thank you to the team of this show and please never stop!

DouskaSenpai · Jul 2021

I’ve been a loyal listener for a number of years. This was my first podcast each day. I noticed a change in the writing and content a number of months ago. It’s shorter, not as playful, and there’s a dearth of related words. Hope you’ll return to the more interesting format.

Middle-aged White Lady · May 2022

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About Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day on Reason.fm

Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.

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