Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 29, 2026 is:





umami • \oo-MAH-mee\ • noun

Umami refers to the taste sensation that is produced by several amino acids and nucleotides and that has a rich or meaty flavor characteristic of cheese, cooked meat, mushrooms, soy, and ripe tomatoes.

// The chef’s secret ingredient added the perfect burst of umami to the signature dish.

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Examples:

"This recipe uses a classic marble cake technique to swirl rich layers of cinnamon into a fluffy olive oil-scented loaf cake. It’s topped with a malted milk glaze for a punch of umami, but you can skip it entirely or substitute a simple vanilla glaze." — Tanya Bush, Will This Make You Happy: Stories & Recipes from a Year of Baking, 2026





Did you know?

Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda is credited with identifying as a distinct taste the savory flavor of the amino acid glutamic acid, which he first noticed in soup stocks made with seaweed. This fifth basic taste—alongside sweet, sour, salty, and bitter—was named umami, meaning "savoriness" in Japanese. Umami can be experienced in foods such as mushrooms, anchovies, and mature cheeses, as well as in foods enhanced with monosodium glutamate, or MSG, a sodium salt derived from glutamic acid.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 28, 2026 is:





gainsay • \gayn-SAY\ • verb

To gainsay something is to deny or disagree with it, or to show or say that it is not true. Gainsay is a formal word usually used in negative statements.

// Although the defendant initially denied involvement in the incident, there was no gainsaying the evidence that the prosecutor presented at the trial.

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Examples:

“Whatever you think of it, there’s no gainsaying the fact that ‘The Sound of Music’ is a remarkably durable vehicle. It’s frequently produced, and suffered no lasting damage to its reputation from a live NBC performance in 2013 ...” — Don Aucoin, The Boston Globe, 9 Jan. 2026





Did you know?

You might have trouble figuring out the meaning of gainsay if you’re thinking of our modern word gain plus say. It should help to know that the gain part comes to us from the Old English word gēan-, meaning “against” or “in opposition to.” (The familiar verb gain comes from Anglo-French and is unrelated.) In Middle English, gēan- was joined to seyen (“to say”) to form gein-seyen, which led to the modern word gainsay. So when you see gainsay, think “to say against”—that is, “to deny” or “to contradict.”

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





oracular • \aw-RAK-yuh-ler\ • adjective

Oracular is a formal word that can describe something used to forecast or prophesize, or something that resembles or relates to something used for such purposes. Oracular can also describe something that resembles an oracle—a person (such as a priestess of ancient Greece) through whom a deity is believed to speak; in this sense, an oracular statement, voice, etc. conveys wisdom or solemnity.

// A few recordings of the famous speaker still exist, and though his language is formal to the point of sounding almost foreign to the modern listener, the oracular quality of his speech remains effective.

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Examples:

"The conversation that unfolds is some of [writer Ben] Lerner's most brilliant and daring writing to date, a mad, oracular burst of speech—about technology, parenthood, and dreaming—that flits effortlessly between prose and poetry." — Kevin Lozano, Vulture, 3 Apr. 2026





Did you know?

When the ancient Greeks had questions or problems, they would turn to the gods for answers by consulting an oracle, a person through whom the gods communicated, usually in the form of cryptic verse. Oracle also referred to the god's answer or to the shrine that worshippers approached when seeking advice; the word's root is the Latin verb orare, which means "to speak." English speakers today can use oracle to simply refer to an authoritative pronouncement or to a person who makes such pronouncements—for example, "a designer who is an oracle of fashion." And the related adjective oracular is used in similar contexts: "a designer who is an oracular voice of fashion."

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





symbiosis • \sim-bee-OH-sis\ • noun

Symbiosis is a formal word that refers to a relationship between two people or groups that work with and depend on each other. In biology, symbiosis refers to the relationship between two different kinds of living things that live together and depend on each other.

// The new playground is the result of symbiosis between multiple stakeholders, including residents, donors, and town officials.

// The bacteria exist in symbiosis with the plant’s roots.

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Examples:

“In the old days, which weren’t that long ago ... there was that ritual moment when a rock ‘n’ roll idol, in the midst of delivering a classic anthem, would point the mic away from himself and into the arena, indicating that it was time for the audience to take over and sing the lines. It might be Springsteen doing ‘Thunder Road,’ or Madonna doing ‘Holiday.’ ... The loving symbiosis of pop star and pop audience doesn’t get much more reverent than that.” — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 7 May 2026





Did you know?

Symbiosis was adopted by the scientific community in the late 1800s, coming ultimately (via German) from the Greek symbíōsis, meaning “living together, companionship.” Of course, there are a lot of ways to live together and, accordingly, several flavors of symbiosis. When a biological symbiosis between two organisms is mutually beneficial, it is termed mutualism. For example, oxpeckers are birds so named because they “peck” ticks off of infested cattle and wild mammals, a likely satisfying arrangement for both parties, and textbook mutualism. When one organism lives off another at the other’s expense, however (as, for one icky instance, head lice do), it’s called parasitism. If only parents of elementary school students could call upon an equivalent of oxpeckers to engage in mutualistic symbiosis when the need arose, but alas.

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





jaundiced • \JAWN-dist\ • adjective

Jaundiced means “showing or influenced by feelings of distrust, distaste, or hostility.” Someone described as jaundiced, or as possessing jaundiced opinions or views, is typically understood to feel that way because of negative past experiences.

// She developed a jaundiced view of politics after years of chairing her local school board committee and witnessing all kinds of petty shenanigans.

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Examples:

“Now, I’m not accusing the mayor of anything. I’m saying that all of these actions were highly inappropriate for an elected official. I voted for her, but will forevermore look at her actions with a jaundiced eye.” — Eric Rinehimer, The Retrospect (Collingswood, New Jersey), 23 Jan. 2026





Did you know?

Cast not a jaundiced eye on the word jaundiced—and by that we mean this: don’t dislike or distrust jaundiced because of past experiences with the word or with others like it. Jaundiced is handy for describing the grumps among us who tend toward envy, aversion, or hostility, and who doesn’t know a few of those? This useful 17th century adjective comes from an also-useful 14th century noun jaundice that still refers to a medical condition in which excess bile pigments in the bloodstream and body tissues cause a person’s skin to turn yellow. The connection between the physical condition and the bad attitude lies in the physiological theory of the bodily humors, which holds that a hostile, irritable temperament is caused by excess yellow bile in one’s body.