Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

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





acquisitive • \uh-KWIZ-uh-tiv\ • adjective

Someone or something described as acquisitive is characterized by a strong desire to own or acquire more things.

// The game aims to teach middle schoolers to balance their acquisitive instincts with a consideration of what will benefit society as a whole.

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Examples:

“The Athenians, say the Corinthians in Thucydides’s history, are innovative, adventurous, swift to action, acquisitive and keen to expand their empire.” — Edith Hall, The Daily Telegraph (London), 2 May 2026





Did you know?

While acquisitive is a useful synonym of the likes of greedy and avaricious, it’s relatively unknown compared to its more popular lexical relations, acquire and acquisition. The former of that pair is most often used to mean “to get as one’s own,” as in “skills acquired through practice”; the latter refers either to the act of acquiring something, as in “the acquisition of skills,” or to something acquired or gained, as in “the museum’s recent acquisitions.” All three have as their ultimate source the Latin word acquīrere, meaning “to acquire.” While acquire and acquisition have both been in use since the 15th century, acquisitive is a bit younger. The word has a somewhat rare use meaning “capable of acquiring” that dates to the late 16th century, but its “greedy” meaning dates only to the early 19th century.

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





semiquincentennial • \sem-ee-kwin-sen-TEN-ee-ul\ • noun

Semiquincentennial refers to a 250th anniversary or its celebration. The word can also be used as an adjective to describe something related to or associated with such an anniversary or its celebration, as in “semiquincentennial festivities.”

// The town’s annual fireworks show promises to be even more spectacular than usual in honor of the nation’s semiquincentennial.

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Examples:

“July 4, 2026 marks the nation’s semiquincentennial—its 250th birthday since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.” — Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 13 June 2025





Did you know?

Everyone knows that if you stick a feather in your hat for, say, a Fourth of July celebration, it is called “macaroni.” But what does a Yankee Doodle Dandy call the celebration itself, specifically when it marks the 250th year since the nation’s founding? Such a special day calls for a special word and semiquincentennial fits the bill, as it does for any anniversary of the same esteemed and venerable vintage. If the word’s mouthful of seven syllables overwhelms, it’s simple to break down. The prefix semi- here means “half in quantity or value,” while quincentennial refers to a whopping 500th anniversary or its celebration. (Quin- comes from the Latin word quinque, meaning “five,” and centennial comes in part from the Latin centum, meaning “hundred.”) Hence a semiquincentennial is celebrated precisely halfway en route to a quincentennial. May knowing this etymology be a feather in your cap at your semiquincentennial BBQ.

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





corrode • \kuh-ROHD\ • verb

Corrode means "to slowly break apart and destroy (metal, an object, etc.) through a chemical process" or "to undergo such a process." It is also used as a synonym of undermine to mean "to gradually destroy or weaken."

// Several sections of the pipe have corroded and will need to be replaced.

// Years of lies and secrets had corroded their relationship.

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Examples:

"Each piece is made of durable steel with a powder coating that won’t rust, fade, or corrode in the weather." — Shea Simmons, Southern Living, 29 Apr. 2026





Did you know?

Corrode comes from the Latin verb corrōdere, meaning "to gnaw or chew up." Corrōdere, in turn, combines the prefix cor- (used here as an intensifier with the meaning of "completely") with the verb rōdere ("to gnaw"). (You may recognize another rōdere descendent, rodent, as a word for members of an order of gnaw-happy mammals.) At one time, corrode was used to literally indicate the action of gnawing away, as in "woodworms corroded the wood." But it is the more figurative senses from the action of gnawing or eating away that have persisted, as in "salt water corroded the iron" or "a lack of transparency by local officials is corroding public trust."

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





sagacious • \suh-GAY-shus\ • adjective

Someone or something described as sagacious has or shows an ability to understand difficult ideas and situations and to make good decisions. Sagacious may be considered a formal synonym of wise and discerning.

// Student reviews paint the writing professor as a sagacious mentor and a compassionate teacher.

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Examples:

“It’s a lyrical truism with the kind of wisdom that feels particularly sagacious only within the context of pop music: Of course breaking up is hard to do, but when expressed by [Neil] Sedaka at the end of each verse (and the beginning of each bridge) of his pained plea to his partner to ‘give our love another try,’ it feels like hard-earned insight.” — Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 2 Mar. 2026





Did you know?

You might expect, wise word wonk that you are, that the word sagacious is etymologically linked with sage, which, as an adjective, means “wise” or, as a noun, “a wise person.” However, despite similarities of spelling, sound, and sense, the two words are not closely related. Sagacious comes from sagire, a Latin verb meaning “to perceive keenly,” while sage comes from a different Latin verb, sapere, which means “to taste,” “to have good taste,” or “to be wise.” Sagacious entered the English language around the beginning of the 17th century and, for some decades, referred to perceptiveness of sight, taste, and especially, smell, hewing close to its Latin ancestor. It has largely lost the sense (no pun intended) of sensory keenness, and now almost exclusively describes someone or something displaying keen, discerning judgment.

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





nabob • \NAY-bahb\ • noun

A nabob is a very rich or important person.

// The upscale hotel downtown is a popular meeting spot for the city’s corporate nabobs.

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Examples:

“NBA nabobs were dismayed by the player empowerment era, where players dictated trades or abandoned teams via free agency.” — Christopher L. Gasper, The Boston Globe, 26 Jan. 2025





Did you know?

In India’s Mogul Empire, founded in the 16th century, provincial governors carried the Urdu title of nawāb. In 1612, Captain Robert Coverte published a report of his “discovery” of “the Great Mogoll, a prince not till now knowne to our English nation.” The Captain informed the English-speaking world that “An earle is called a Nawbob,” thereby introducing the English version of the word. Nabob, as it later came to be spelled, gained its extended sense of “a prominent person” in the 18th century, when it was applied sarcastically to British officials of the East India Company returning home after amassing great wealth in Asia. But the word was most famously used by Vice President Spiro Agnew, in a 1970 speech written by William Safire, when he referred to critical members of the news media as “nattering nabobs of negativism.”