Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 6, 2025 is:
largesse • \lahr-ZHESS\ • noun
Largesse is a somewhat formal word that refers to the act of giving away money or the generosity of a person who gives away money. It can also refer to the money that is given away.
// The community has benefited greatly from the largesse of its wealthiest family.
// The local business owner is a philanthropist known for his largesse.
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Examples:
"Over the years, ShelterBox USA, an outgrowth of the Rotary Club and named for the relief boxes it distributes, has helped nearly 3 million people in some of the world’s worst disaster zones. It hands out basic survival needs: tents, tools, and household supplies. Twice the organization has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for its life-preserving largesse." — The Olney (Texas) Enterprise, 20 Mar. 2025
Did you know?
The English language has benefited from the largesse of Anglo-French, through which a generous number of words have passed; examples range from simple to account to desert. English speakers owe Anglo-French a huge thanks, in particular, for its adjective large. That word, meaning "generous, broad, or wide," is the source of both largesse and the familiar duo of large and enlarge. Most people understand enlarge to mean "to make larger," but a less common sense (used in Shakespeare's Henry V) is "to set free." Largesse also contains the notion of freedom, specifically with regard to a lack of financial constraints: it's not about having a "large" amount of money but rather being "free" with it. Incidentally, the English word large wasn't about size when it was first adopted in the 13th century. Back then it meant "lavish."
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contentious
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 5, 2025 is:
contentious • \kun-TEN-shuss\ • adjective
Contentious describes something that is likely to cause people to argue or disagree or that involves a lot of arguing. When used of a person, contentious describes someone likely or willing to argue.
// I think it’s wise to avoid such a contentious topic at a dinner party.
// After a contentious debate, members of the committee finally voted to approve the funding.
// The dispute involves one of the region’s most contentious leaders.
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Examples:
“Next up will be Peter Shaffer’s ‘Amadeus,’ which opened in 1979 and won the Tony for best play in 1981 with Ian McKellen winning lead actor honors. ... The story is a fictional account of the contentious relationship between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his rival, Antonio Salieri, the court composer of the Austrian emperor.” — Jessica Gelt, The Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2025
Did you know?
If everyone has a bone to pick now and then, contentious types have entire skeletons. While English has plenty of words for people prone to fighting—combative and belligerent among them—contentious implies a fondness for arguing that others find particularly tedious or wearying. Thankfully, even the most contentious cranks and crabs among us have no cause to quibble over the history of the word contentious, as its origins are very clear: contentious comes (by way of Middle French) from the Latin adjective contentiōsus, meaning “persistent, obstinate, argumentative, or quarrelsome.”
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tapestry
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 4, 2025 is:
tapestry • \TAP-uh-stree\ • noun
A tapestry is a heavy textile characterized by complicated pictorial designs and used for hangings, curtains, and upholstery. In figurative use, tapestry may refer to anything made up of different things, people, colors, etc.
// The walls were adorned with handwoven tapestries.
// They enjoyed the rich tapestry of life in the city.
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Examples:
“The event showcased the vibrant tapestry of the numerous cultural backgrounds of the students through dance, performance, music, language and artistic expression.” — Foysol Choudhury, The Edinburgh (Scotland) Evening News, 10 May 2025
Did you know?
Several languages weave through the history of tapestry, which comes from a Greek word meaning “carpet” and traveled through Anglo-French and Middle English before arriving in modern English in the 15th century. Tapestry originally referred to a heavy handwoven reversible textile used for hangings, curtains, and upholstery, and characterized by complicated pictorial designs. It still does today, but the word has fittingly developed a “tapestry” of additional senses. It may describe a nonreversible imitation of tapestry used chiefly for upholstery, or embroidery on canvas resembling woven tapestry. It can also refer figuratively to anything made up of different parts, as in “nature’s rich tapestry.” Tapestry isn’t the only art word that’s developed a figurative “medley” sense; collage (“a work of art made by adhering pieces of different materials (such as paper, cloth, or wood) to a flat surface”) and mosaic (“a decoration made by inlaying small pieces of variously colored material (such as glass or ceramic) to form pictures or patterns”) are both used figuratively to mean “a collection of different things.”
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egregious
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 3, 2025 is:
egregious • \ih-GREE-juss\ • adjective
Egregious is a formal word used to describe things that are conspicuously bad.
// Leaving one’s phone on during a performance is an egregious breach of theater etiquette.
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Examples:
“When a cutting-edge A.I. misbehaves in a particularly egregious way, it can seem shocking. Our instinct is to anthropomorphize the system and ask, ‘What kind of twisted mind would work like that?’” — Cal Newport, The New Yorker, 3 June 2025
Did you know?
Some words originally used for animals that gather in flocks have been herded into use for people, too. The Latin word grex means “flock,” “herd,” or “group,” and is the root of several English words, including gregarious, which originally meant “tending to live in a flock, herd, or community rather than alone” but has become a synonym for “sociable,” and egregious. The Latin forebear of egregious, egregius, literally meant “out of the herd” but was used figuratively to mean “outstanding in one’s field.” Egregious entered English in the 16th century with that same, now-obsolete meaning, but over time gained a sense meaning “conspicuously bad” or “flagrant,” possibly as a result of ironic use of its original sense.
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palimpsest
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 2, 2025 is:
palimpsest • \PAL-imp-sest\ • noun
Palimpsest in its original use refers to writing material (such as a parchment manuscript) used one or more times after earlier writing has been erased; the underlying text is said to be “in palimpsest.” Palimpsest in extended use refers to something that has usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface.
// Scholars believe the motive for making palimpsests was often economic—reusing parchment was cheaper than preparing a new skin.
// The ancient city is an architectural palimpsest.
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Examples:
“My aim was to trace the course of … the Aqua Marcia, built between 144 and 140 B.C. by Julius Caesar’s ancestor Quintus Marcius Rex. … The original tuff arches carried the Marcia across a steep ravine. Subsequent retaining walls and buttresses have transformed the bridge into a palimpsest of building styles.” — David Laskin, The New York Times, 24 Apr. 2024
Did you know?
Long ago, writing surfaces were so highly valued that they were often used more than once. Palimpsest in its original use referred to an early form of recycling in which an old document was erased to make room for a new one when parchment ran short. (The word is from the Greek palimpsēstos, meaning “scraped again.”) Fortunately for modern scholars, the erasing process wasn’t completely effective, so the original could often be distinguished under the newer writing. De republica, by Roman statesman and orator Cicero, is one of many documents recovered from a palimpsest. Nowadays, the word palimpsest can refer not only to such a document but to anything that has multiple layers apparent beneath the surface.
Brasil