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word of the year 2018 woty behind the scenes
Words of the Year

2018 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Editor Peter Sokolowski discusses 'justice' and the rest of our Word of the Year 2018 selections


How did we choose justice as our Word of the Year? Peter Sokolowski explains the data behind our decisions, and how this and the other Words of the Year reflect what was on people's minds this year.

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play word of the year 2018 woty behind the scenes
2018 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

 

How we chose 'justice'

play sneaked vs snuck video
Sneaked vs. Snuck

 

How the irregular 'snuck' sneaked into the dictionary

play body parts video
When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

 

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes

play video how a word gets into the dicionary
How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

 

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

play serenity carr next to an illustration of a refrigerator with the letter d in it
Why is there a 'd' in 'fridge' but not in 'refrigerator'?

 

Thawing one of the mysteries of English

play person studying illustration
'All Intensive Purposes' or 'All Intents and Purposes'?

 

We're intent on clearing it up

play illustrated notebook that says everyday vs every day
'Everyday' vs. 'Every Day'

 

A simple trick to keep them separate

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
sandwich-happy-face
Synonym Sandwich Quiz Connect two unrelated words by picking a word syn...
See All