Doomsday is one of those evocative words that paint a very vivid picture. We define doomsday: “the day of the Last Judgment, at the end of the world; nuclear destruction of the world; given to or marked by forebodings or predictions of impending calamity; especially concerned with or predicting future universal destruction.” As you can see, it’s about as bottom-line as it can get. Other words associated …
You’ve probably heard the phrase “breaking up is hard to do.” That’s because it is. Ending a relationship and being honest with someone about your feelings is rarely easy, but it’s a necessary part of life that every person goes through at some point. One thing that can make it easier when it’s time to break up is thinking carefully about the exact words you …
As the Covid-19 virus continues to spread and evolve, each new variant is given an official name—and sometimes an unofficial nickname. We’ll keep this page updated with the latest Covid-19 variant names and an explanation of where the new names come from. What is XBB.1.5? XBB.1.5 is a subvariant of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus. In early 2023, medical experts described XBB.1.5 as …
Prince Harry’s highly anticipated memoir provides intimate details about his very public and often contentious life as part of—and apart from—the British royal family. But what is the significance of his choice of the book’s one-word title, Spare? The answer to that question lies in the phrase the heir and the spare. Top Cover Image Credit: Random House Group What does the heir and the …
While new words can make us swoon, they are unlikely to cause us to faint or lose consciousness. But as word lovers we can examine the word faint itself. What exactly is fainting, and what is the more formal medical term for it? In medicine, the term syncope is used to refer to fainting. Generally, this term is used to specifically refer to the act …
We’ve got our mind on our money and our money on our mind. And while we’re mulling over all this moolah, we’re also thinking about the many words we use to refer to cash. Don’t believe us? We’ll put our money where our mouth is and show you all the words we could find. (And best of all, it won’t cost you a dime! … …
Whenever lookups for a particular five-letter word spike at Dictionary.com, it’s a sure sign that the day’s Wordle answer is a real stumper. This actually happens quite often. Here are the top 25 Wordle answer lookups from 2022, ranked by search volume—along with their definitions. How many did you guess correctly? 1. trice noun a very short time; an instant. 2. knoll noun a small, …
Using our handy thesaurus or dictionary, you can gobble up a smorgasbord of new words to satiate your hunger for a wider vocabulary. Before your hearty meal is finished, you might be curious to know if there are actually any synonyms for the word burping. Is there some kind of fancy medical term to refer to expelling gas through the mouth? If you won’t be …
It’s one of the oldest words in the English language. One that’s fundamental not just to our vocabulary but to who we are as humans. And yet it’s a word that continues to be a source of intense personal importance and societal debate. It’s a word that’s inseparable from the story of 2022. Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year is woman. woman [ woom–uhn ] noun …
There are a lot of reasons to love trees. They provide us with shade, fruit, beautiful flowers, and clean air. In addition to all of these perks, many of them also have fascinating names. Trees take their names from famous people in history, stories in mythology, and even the special extracts and resins they produce. Some of them are hundreds of feet tall. Others have …
If you’re anything like us—and hello, you’re here, reading this—you’re probably a book lover. Whether those to-read piles on the brink of teetering over are yours or your bestie’s, parent’s, or partner’s, we’re not here to judge the unread stacks. But when it comes to the great responsibility of sharing the love of books through gifts, there are so many options beyond books themselves. To …
Some of the traditional ways of talking about adoption may seem neutral or harmless, but many once widely used terms are now avoided due to carrying negative implications or associations. Taking time to understand and consider these implications is especially important at a time when many discussions and depictions of adoption are criticized for minimizing the perspectives and experiences of children awaiting adoption and people …
