Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 14, 2026 is:





vacuous • \VAK-yuh-wus\ • adjective

Vacuous is a formal word indicating a lack of thought, intelligence, or substance.

// Despite a lengthy advertising campaign pitching the film as a masterwork, critics ultimately assailed it as dull and filled with self-important characters spouting vacuous platitudes.

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Examples:

"Harper Lee was not slight, was not vacuous. To Kill a Mockingbird is an artefact of its time … but it had its place in moving the arc of history and still does." — Erica Wagner, The Observer (London), 18 Oct. 2025





Did you know?

As you might have guessed, vacuous shares the same root as vacuum. Both come from the Latin adjective vacuus, meaning "empty." This root also gave us the noun vacuity (the oldest meaning of which is "an empty space") as well as the verb evacuate (originally meaning "to empty of contents"). Its predecessor, the verb vacāre, is also an ancestor of the words vacation, vacancy, and even void. All of these words suggest an emptiness of space, or else a fleeing of people or things from one place to another. Vacuous appeared in English in the middle of the 17th century, at first literally describing something that was empty. Centuries later it acquired its figurative usage, describing one who is lacking any substance of the mind.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 13, 2026 is:





salvo • \SAL-voh\ • noun

In military contexts, salvo refers to various actions involving discharge or release of bombs, rockets, artillery, etc., as well to the bombs or projectiles released in such an action. In general use, salvo is usually used to refer to a strong or sudden verbal attack, but it can also refer to a sudden occurrence of applause, laughter, etc., from many people.

// The troops were driven back by a salvo of cannon fire.

// The editorial's opening salvo was a list of grievances against the mayor's policies.

// The conclusion of her performance was answered with a salvo of cheers and applause.

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Examples:

“Nas dropped Illmatic, his unimpeachable opening salvo, when he was only 20, taking a haunted stroll through his Queensbridge adolescence on ‘Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park).’ An undercurrent of nostalgia weaves throughout his 30-year discography.” — Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 8 Jan. 2026





Did you know?

No opening salvo here: salvo in phrases like “an opening salvo” is a kind of attack, especially one that is strong or sudden. Usually, such salvos are verbal attacks, like a critical remark aimed at a debate opponent, or a pointed accusation at the start of an editorial. But salvo can also refer to attacks of a more perilous kind, including various martial actions involving bombs, rockets, and artillery. (It can also refer to the bombs or projectiles released in a salvo.) The word arrived from Italian in the late 16th century with a complex meaning: it referred to a simultaneous discharge of two or more guns, either in military action or as a salute. The word’s ultimate source is the Latin word salve, meaning “hail!,” which was an ancient Roman greeting. In English, salvo is sometimes used for a sudden occurrence of applause, laughter, etc., from many people, which sounds to us like the best kind of all.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 12, 2026 is:





gnomic • \NOH-mik\ • adjective

Gnomic is a formal word that describes something cryptically said or written in few words.

// The painter is notorious for offering terse, gnomic responses to questions about her work that leave interviewers and critics scratching their heads.

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Examples:

“Indeed, the album that ‘Michelangelo Dying’ reminds me of most is [Laurie] Anderson’s seminal ‘Big Science,’ from 1982. ... Both albums feature gnomic lyrical pronouncements. (‘Rigid, collapse,’ [Cate] Le Bon chants on the track ‘About Time,’ reminiscent of Anderson talk-singing, ‘Big Science, Hallelujah.’)” — Rumaan Alam, The New Yorker, 26 Sept. 2025





Did you know?

A gnome is an aphorism—that is, a short phrase that expresses a true or wise idea. Gnomes are sometimes couched in metaphorical or figurative language, they are often quite clever, and they are always concise. We borrowed the word gnome in the 16th century from the Greeks, who based their word gnōmē on the verb gignōskein, meaning “to know.” (The other gnome—referring to the dwarf of folklore—comes from New Latin and is unrelated to the aphoristic gnome.) We began using gnomic, the adjective form of gnome, in the late 18th century. It describes a style of writing, or sometimes speech, characterized by pithy phrases, which are often terse to the point of mysteriousness.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 11, 2026 is:





baptism of fire • \BAP-tiz-um-uv-FYRE\ • noun

A baptism of fire (or baptism by fire, as it is sometimes referred to in the U.S.) is an introductory or initial experience that is a severe ordeal. In military contexts, baptism of fire specifically refers to a soldier's first exposure to enemy fire.

// The newly recruited player faced a baptism of fire as the team went head to head with their greatest rival.

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Examples:

"It was my first day on the slopes, and in my naivety I had tackled Avoriaz’s famous Boulevard des Skieurs after one three-hour lesson, before I could even really turn. At 36, this was a baptism of fire." — Jaymi McCann, The Week, 23 Jan. 2026





Did you know?

The military sense of baptism of fire can be found in, among other texts, a 1907 history of a Massachusetts regiment in the Civil War: "That night we camped sixteen miles from Baton Rouge where we remained until the 21st, on which day we received our baptism of fire." Users of that sense, referring to a soldier's first exposure to enemy fire, as well those employing the more general sense of an especially difficult initiation, both allude (knowingly or unknowingly) to a Biblical passage: "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Matthew 3:11, RSV). The use of baptism of fire to refer to such a spiritual baptism dates to at least the early 1600s. Non-biblical, metaphorical use for any introductory or initial experience that is a severe ordeal arose in the mid-1850s.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 10, 2026 is:





pedagogical • \ped-uh-GAH-jih-kul\ • adjective

Pedagogical is a formal word used to describe things that are of or related to teachers or education.

// The new professor is known for particularly engaging pedagogical methods.

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Examples:

“It’s a predictable part of every academic year at my institution: that time when we faculty are asked to submit course proposals and space requests. ... But the prosaic task of picking a classroom has hidden potential: It’s a chance to manifest a new pedagogical vision; it’s an instantiation of values in a time of profound change.” — Rachel Hastings, Inside Higher Ed, 4 June 2026





Did you know?

Pedagogical was coined in the late 16th century from a Greek adjective of the same meaning. That adjective, paidagōgikos (“suitable for a teacher or trainer”), in turn comes from the noun paidagōgos, meaning “tutor.” The English word pedagogue (which can simply mean “teacher” but usually suggests one who is particularly pedantic or dull) comes from the same root. Although the words educational and teacher make the grade in most contexts, pedagogical and pedagogue are useful additions to the class.