Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

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





cogent • \KOH-junt\ • adjective

Cogent is a formal word that describes something that is very clear and easy for the mind to accept and believe. It is used as a synonym of convincing.

// At the town meeting, citizens presented many cogent arguments in support of building a new senior center.

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Examples:

“The history of art reads here as one long, free verse poem-in-progress, gorgeous and absorbing. Even so, many of the most memorable moments come in the form of cogent micro-essays, smartly curated ensembles of work bearing a legible, lucid premise.” — Leah Ollman, The Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2026





Did you know?

A cogent argument is one that really drives its point home because it is clear, coherent, and readily understandable, and perhaps also because of the etymological history of cogent. Cogent comes from the Latin verb cōgere, meaning “to drive or force together.” Something described as cogent fuses thoughts and ideas into a meaningful whole that others can readily grasp and accept. A cogent explanation is a convincing one, and cogent analysis has us nodding along because it is clear and pertinent. Cōgere was formed in Latin by combining the prefix co- with the verb agere, “to drive, lead, or act,” a root which is also the source of our familiar noun agent. Handily enough, one definition of agent is “a means or instrument by which a guiding intelligence achieves a result.” It follows logically then that cogency is often a worthwhile agent, indeed.

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





southpaw • \SOUTH-paw\ • noun

Southpaw is an informal word for someone who is left-handed. It is especially used for a left-handed baseball pitcher or boxer.

// The team’s new pitcher is a southpaw with a wicked knuckleball.

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Examples:

“The Sox southpaw’s perfect game bid ended when the Yankees loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth …” — Gabrielle Starr, The Boston Herald, 7 June 2026





Did you know?

Sandy Koufax, Lefty Grove, Whitey Ford—there’s no doubt these southpaws are some of the greatest baseball players of all time. What is in doubt is the origin of the word southpaw. One popular theory ties it to the layout of baseball parks. To keep the afternoon sun out of batters’ eyes, diamonds were supposedly built so that the pitcher faced west, with their left arm, therefore, pointed south. This theory strikes out however, on account of the earliest known uses of the compound south paw referring simply to one’s left hand, unrelated to baseball. It wasn’t until later in the century that the word began to be used, via metonymy, first for a left-handed person, and then specifically for a left-handed pitcher.

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





devolve • \dih-VAHLV\ • verb

To devolve is to gradually go from an advanced state to a less advanced state, or to pass something, such as responsibility or power, from one person or group to another at a lower level of authority.

// Somehow the debate devolved into a petty competition to see who could get more applause.

// Community leaders hope that the new government will devolve more power to the community itself.

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Examples:

“He accused board members of personally profiting from the parking and landscaping policies. Board meetings soon devolved into a cacophony of charges, countercharges and shouting.” — Elizabeth Williamson, The New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025





Did you know?

Evolve? Check. Revolve? Check. Devolve? Now we’re on a roll—literally. All three of these words (and more) evolved from the Latin verb volvere, meaning “to set in a circular course, to cause to roll, to bring round.” The Latin ēvolvere means “to roll out or away”; revolvere means “to roll back to a starting point”; and dēvolvere means “to roll (something) down.” In its earliest uses in the 15th century, devolve literally meant “to roll onward or downward.” Today the word is typically used for a more figurative rolling down, as when an organization devolves power—that is, passes power down—to those at a lower level of authority, or when a deteriorating situation is described as “devolving into chaos.” One word, multiple uses. That’s just how English rolls.

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





tilde • \TIL-duh\ • noun

Tilde refers to the mark ~ placed especially over the letter n (as in the Spanish señor, meaning "sir") to denote the sound \nʸ\, or over vowels (as in the Portuguese irmã, meaning "sister") to indicate nasality. When a tilde appears as an independent character, it usually means "approximately" (as in "we'll be there in ~ 30 minutes").

// A familiar example of the tilde appears in the name of Brazil's capital city, São Paulo.

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Examples:

"Californians with accents, tildes and other diacritical marks in their names will soon be able to have their vital records accurately reflect their names." — Linh Tat, Orange County (California) Register, 30 Dec. 2025





Did you know?

The terms piña colada and La Niña share more than just a "cool" factor: both are Spanish loan words whose spellings include tildes, those wavy marks which in these examples are placed over the letter n to indicate a blend of the sounds of n and y. Tilde is itself a Spanish borrowing rooted in the Latin titulus, an ancestor of the English words title and titular that means "title" or "inscription." The Spanish and English applications of tilde are distinct. In Spanish, tilde refers most commonly to the accent symbol, while ñ is its own member of the alphabet (pronounced "EN-yay"). In contrast, English speakers use tilde specifically for the aforementioned mark. In addition to functioning as a diacritic—that is, a mark paired with a character to indicate pronunciation—the tilde may be used as an independent character to indicate approximation, negation in logic, or similarity in mathematics.

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





tilde • \TIL-duh\ • noun

Tilde refers to the mark ~ placed especially over the letter n (as in the Spanish señor, meaning "sir") to denote the sound \nʸ\, or over vowels (as in the Portuguese irmã, meaning "sister") to indicate nasality. When a tilde appears as an independent character, it usually means "approximately" (as in "we'll be there in ~ 30 minutes").

// A familiar example of the tilde appears in the name of the Brazilian city São Paulo.

See the entry >





Examples:

"Californians with accents, tildes and other diacritical marks in their names will soon be able to have their vital records accurately reflect their names." — Linh Tat, Orange County (California) Register, 30 Dec. 2025





Did you know?

The terms piña colada and La Niña share more than just a "cool" factor: both are Spanish loan words whose spellings include tildes, those wavy marks which in these examples are placed over the letter n to indicate a blend of the sounds of n and y. Tilde is itself a Spanish borrowing rooted in the Latin titulus, an ancestor of the English words title and titular that means "title" or "inscription." The Spanish and English applications of tilde are distinct. In Spanish, tilde refers most commonly to the accent symbol, while ñ is its own member of the alphabet (pronounced "EN-yay"). In contrast, English speakers use tilde specifically for the aforementioned mark. In addition to functioning as a diacritic—that is, a mark paired with a character to indicate pronunciation—the tilde may be used as an independent character to indicate approximation, negation in logic, or similarity in mathematics.