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Words of the Year

2016 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Editor Peter Sokolowski talks about 'surreal' and the rest of our Word of the Year 2016 selections


How did we choose surreal as our Word of the Year for 2016? Peter Sokolowski explains the data behind our decisions, and what that tells us about what people were thinking this year.

Don't miss our in-depth look at surreal and our gallery of top trending words from 2016.

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2016 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

 

How we chose 'surreal'

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The Serial Comma Explained

 

Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma?

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How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

 

What our editors are looking for when they enter words in Merriam-Webster.

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How to Use a Dictionary

 

The best way to find information in the dictionary

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'One in the same' or 'One and the same'?

 

Is it all the same anyway?

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Old-School Grammar

 

Many of today's grammar rules can be traced to the opinions of one 18th century writer.

play video cynic
The History of 'Cynic'

 

How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.

Games & Quizzes

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Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
petit-fours
Name That Dessert! Hope you’ve saved room for some sweet vocabulary.
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