Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 27, 2026 is:





benevolent • \buh-NEV-uh-lunt\ • adjective

Benevolent can describe someone or something that is kind and generous or something that is organized for the purpose of doing good.

// The event's reception was courtesy of a benevolent donor who's chosen to remain anonymous.

// They belong to several benevolent societies and charitable organizations.

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Examples:

"The Community Service Award is presented at the local, state and national levels to individuals and groups who have made outstanding voluntary, civil, heroic or benevolent contributions to their communities." — Devin Weeks, The Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) Press, 24 Dec. 2025





Did you know?

One who is benevolent genuinely wishes other people well, a meaning reflected clearly in the word's Latin roots: benevolent comes from bene, meaning "good," and velle, meaning "to wish." Other descendants of velle in English include volition, which refers to the power to make one's own choices or decisions, and voluntary, as well as the rare velleity, meaning either "the lowest degree of volition" or "a slight wish or tendency." A more familiar velle descendant stands directly opposed to benevolent: malevolent describes someone or something having or showing a desire to cause harm to another person.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 26, 2026 is:





Gordian knot • \GOR-dee-un-NAHT\ • noun

Gordian knot refers to a complicated and difficult problem. It is often used in the phrase cut the Gordian knot, which means “to solve a difficult problem in a very direct way by doing something forceful or extreme.”

// The organization’s change in leadership is being widely applauded as a step toward stability, but many are less than optimistic about the new director’s ability to cut the Gordian knot at the center of its troubles.

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Examples:

“Meanwhile, officials are having high-level conversations about the long-term effectiveness of Michigan’s aging dam infrastructure and the growing need for effective flood mitigation measures. Whitmer noted a Gordian knot of complexity around the state’s dams, many of which are operated through murky public-private arrangements.” — Byron McCauley, The Holland (Michigan) Sentinel, 23 Apr. 2026





Did you know?

According to legend, when the peasant Gordius became king of Gordium, capital of the ancient district of Phrygia (in what is now modern Türkiye), he fastened the yoke of his wagon to a beam with a very complex knot. Centuries later, when Alexander the Great arrived on the scene, he was told that he couldn’t conquer and rule Asia unless he proved himself worthy by untying the knot. Alexander quickly solved his problem—and gained a new kingdom—by slicing the knot in half with his sword. Since then, Gordian knot has been a term for a difficult problem, and the phrase “cut the Gordian knot” has been a way to describe a direct and forceful solution to an apparently insurmountable difficulty.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 25, 2026 is:





sacrosanct • \SAK-roh-sankt\ • adjective

Sacrosanct is a formal word that describes something too important and respected to be changed or criticized. It can also mean "most sacred or holy."

// While the family's new matriarch aimed to maintain the familiar traditions of the holidays, she did not consider the details of their celebration to be sacrosanct.

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Examples:

"Sen. Paul Strommen of Sidney ... said there's no appetite among senators to empty the Veterans Aid Fund. 'There's certain things that are kind of sacrosanct, and veterans' aid is one of those things.'" — Todd von Kampen, The North Platte (Nebraska) Telegraph, 7 Mar. 2026





Did you know?

Contrary to the beliefs of some, language is not sacrosanct; rather, it is subject to constant modification based on the needs, experiences, and even whims of those who use it. Take the word sacrosanct itself, which likely comes from the Latin phrase sacro sanctus meaning "made holy by a sacred rite." There's a definite semantic softening from that to the "too important and respected to be changed or criticized" meaning of sacrosanct. But holy moly, has sanctus led to a whole bunch of other English words with a truly pious flavor, from saint and sanctimony to sanctify and sanctuary. Sacrum ("a sacred rite"), source of the sacro in sacro sanctus, is no slouch either, living on in English anatomy as the name for our pelvic vertebrae—a shortening of os sacrum, which translates literally as "holy bone."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 24, 2026 is:





onus • \OH-nuss\ • noun

Onus is a formal word typically used to refer to a responsibility, obligation, or burden. It is usually preceded by the word the.

// Management has made it clear that the onus is on employees to ask for further training if they don’t understand the new procedures.

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Examples:

“The [London Book Fair] comes the week before the government is due to deliver its progress report on AI and copyright, after proposals for a relaxation of existing laws caused outrage last year. Philippa Gregory, the novelist, described the plans for an ‘opt-out’ policy, which puts the onus on writers to refuse permission for their work to be trawled, as akin to putting a sign on your front door asking burglars to pass by.” — The Guardian (London), 13 Mar. 2026





Did you know?

Understanding the etymology of onus shouldn’t be a burden; it’s as simple as knowing that English borrowed the word—spelling, meaning, and all—from Latin in the 17th century. Onus is also a distant relative of the Sanskrit word anas, meaning cart (as in, a wheeled wagon or vehicle that carries a burden). English isn’t exactly loaded with words that come from Latin onus, but onerous (“difficult and unpleasant to do or deal with”) is one, which is fitting since in addition to being synonymous with “burden,” onus has also long been used to refer to obligations and responsibilities that one may find annoying, taxing, disagreeable, or distasteful.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 23, 2026 is:





expedite • \EK-spuh-dyte\ • verb

To expedite something is to cause it to happen faster.

// We’ll do what we can to expedite the processing of your application.

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Examples:

“The new task force ... is required to submit an initial report in 60 days and final report in 90 days with recommendations to simplify, improve and expedite hiring.” — Blake Paterson, NOLA.com (New Orleans, Louisiana), 7 Apr. 2026





Did you know?

Need someone to do something in a hurry? You can tell that person to step on it, or you can tell them to expedite it. Figurative feet are involved in both cases, though less obviously in the second choice. Expedite comes from the Latin verb expedire, meaning “to free from entanglement or difficulty.” The feet come in at that word’s root: it traces back to Latin ped- or pes, meaning “foot.” Expedient and expedition also stepped into English by way of expedire.