Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 5, 2026 is:





perseverate • \per-SEV-uh-rayt\ • verb

To perseverate is to intently focus one's attention on a thought or thoughts. Perseverate can also mean "to recur or repeat continually."

// They teach that there is no use in perseverating about past regrets.

// Nervous thoughts perseverated in the back of her mind for weeks leading up to the event, but it was a complete success.

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Examples:

"Why do we remember the close losses more than the wins? ... We perseverate on Milwaukee's 24-point comeback with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter but forget the Wolves trailed by 16 with less than five minutes to play before beating Houston earlier this year." — Michael Rand, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 14 Apr. 2025





Did you know?

Looking at perseverate and perseveration, you may guess that the latter was formed by adding a suffix to the former, but that is not the case. Perseveration is actually the older term by a few years. In the early 1900s, psychologists adopted perseveration from German for the act of repeating a behavior over and over again—for instance, continually repeating the same syllable or word might be called "verbal perseveration." Shortly afterward, those scientists wanted a verb for such acts of repetition, so they changed the -ation of perseveration to -ate and perseverate was born. Perseverate continued to evolve and persevere in the English language, which led to its broader meanings, "to recur or repeat continually" and "to fixate."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 4, 2026 is:





adventitious • \ad-ven-TISH-us\ • adjective

Adventitious is a formal word that most often describes something that comes from an outside source, and is neither inherent or innate. In botanical contexts especially, the word also describes something that arises or occurs sporadically, or not in the usual or expected location.

// The house is like a museum—beautifully restored, full of period pieces, and with no adventitious elements in view.

// The bumps growing along the stem of the tomato plants are adventitious roots.

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Examples:

“Although individual [creosote bush] plants have a lifespan of 30-90 years, adventitious shoots grow up from roots. These develop into new plants, clones of the original, that form a ring around the spot where the original plant stood.” — Joshua Siskin, The Orange County (California) Register, 5 July 2025





Did you know?

Early in Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre, the titular Jane ascertains that her new employer, Mr. Rochester, whom she thinks is decidedly not handsome, has "other qualities, intrinsic or adventitious" that "atone for the lack of mere personal attractiveness." We all possess intrinsic and adventitious qualities—the former, we're born with, and the latter we gain through life's lessons. English speakers anglicized the Latin word adventīcius in the early 17th century to apply it with its Latin meaning: "coming from outside; external, foreign." The word still carries this meaning primarily, but by the close of the 17th century it was also being used, especially in botany, to describe that which arises or occurs sporadically or in other than the usual location, as when adventitious roots appear where roots generally are not found.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 3, 2026 is:





tittle • \TITT-ul\ • noun

Used chiefly in British English, tittle refers to a very small part or amount; it is often paired with the word jot. In writing and printing on both sides of the pond, tittle also refers to a point or small sign used as a diacritical mark.

// There is not a jot or tittle of evidence to support their claims.

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Examples:

"First-class engineering allows the listener to savour every sonic jot and tittle." — Clive Paget, The Guardian (London), 13 Feb. 2026





Did you know?

When most of us dot our i's and cross our t's, our minds are with the words we are writing rather than the anatomy of the letters we employ. But those dots and crosses? The types who love type have names for them. The mark that sits above the lowercase i (as well as j) is known as a "tittle". Tittle comes from the Medieval Latin noun titulus, meaning "title," and has also been used over the centuries for diacritical marks including tildes, as well as any small mark or sign in writing or printing—hence the figurative use of tittle to refer to a very small part of something. For those curious about additional letter components, stroke refers to one of the lines that form a letter, including the horizontal lines that mark the lowercase letters t and f (which may be described more specifically as a "cross strokes"). Typographers even have a word for the negative space enclosed by strokes, such as the hole in the letter o: it's known as a “counter.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 2, 2026 is:





heterodox • \HET-uh-ruh-dahks\ • adjective

Like both unorthodox and unconventional, heterodox describes something, such an idea or belief, that is contrary to or different from an acknowledged standard, a traditional form, or an established religion. Heterodox can also describe a person or group that holds unorthodox opinions or doctrines.

// The two new faculty members' heterodox approach to teaching science initially met with some resistance from their peers.

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Examples:

“The result is what researchers call the ‘spiral of silence’ (Noelle-Neumann, 1974), which describes the process by which dissenters go quiet, fearing social backlash; this, in turn, makes other dissenters feel even more alone, producing a false consensus that further suppresses dissent. The group appears unanimous, and everyone with a heterodox view assumes they’re the only one.” — The Open Therapy Institute, Psychology Today, 22 June 2026





Did you know?

Hot take: individuals often see other people’s ideas as unconventional while regarding their own as common sense. On second thought, this take may be more on the mild side—in other words, closer to orthodox (“conventional”) insight about human nature than to heterodox (“unconventional” or “contrary”) opinion. Both orthodox and heterodox developed from the same root, the Greek doxa, meaning “opinion.” Heterodox combines doxa with heter-, a combining form meaning “other” or “different”; orthodox pairs doxa with orth-, meaning “correct” or “straight.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 1, 2026 is:





slew • \SLOO\ • noun

Slew is an informal word for a large number of people or things.

// The pile of junk mail included a slew of catalogs.

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Examples:

“The nonalcoholic drinks category has expanded so much in recent years that it’s not uncommon to find a list of thoughtful, complex nonalcoholic beverages on a bar or restaurant’s cocktail menu—yes, even outside of the major cities. And it’s even easier to enjoy alcohol-free beverages at home thanks to a slew of brands making really good alcohol alternatives that you can order online and have delivered directly to your door.” — Carina Finn and Emily Farris, Bon Appétit, 31 Dec. 2025





Did you know?

Slew appeared as an American colloquialism in the early 19th century. Its origins are unclear, but it may have come from the Irish word slua, a descendant of slúag, an Old Irish word meaning “army,” “host,” or “throng.” Indeed, the earliest known uses of slew appear in a martial context, from a historical novel by Daniel Pierce Thompson about Vermont and the Green Mountain Boys, a militia organized in Vermont during the American Revolution. In one scene, one of the Boys tells leader Ethan Allen that “there’s more than a hundred slew of men coming!” Later, British General Burgoyne is said to have “drawn up a whole slew of cannon.” But despite this early military setting, slew is not limited to troops or artillery; a slew of data shows the word describing nearly anything existing in abundance.