39 NEW Words That Were Recently Added to the Dictionary

Dictionaries are constantly changing! As people invent new words and change old ones, dictionaries add and update entries. If a new kind of technology is invented, its name needs to go in the dictionary. When new slang words pop up, Read more…


These Are the LONGEST English Words in the Dictionary

Want to impress your friends with some ridiculously and perhaps unnecessarily long words? This is the list for you! The 190,000-Letter Word Number of Letters: 189,819 Definition: Yep, there’s a word out there that’s almost 190,000 letters long. Technically speaking, Read more…


10 of the Most-Searched Words in the Dictionary

I use the dictionary a LOT. When I type “m” into the search bar, my computer automatically fills in “merriam-webster.com.” Most of the time, the words I’m searching are ones that I haven’t heard before or rarely use, but there Read more…


What Is an Adverb?

Adverbs are the more complicated cousin of adjectives. Whereas adjectives serve a fairly straightforward purpose—they limit or describe a noun—adverbs have a more diverse range of functions. Their primary purpose is to modify verbs, but they can also modify adjectives, Read more…


What Is a Preposition?

“Preposition” is one of those grammar words that seems to be thrown around a lot but never actually clearly explained. Sometimes people seem to (incorrectly) use it as the catch-all: When all the other words in a sentence have been Read more…


6 Essential Grammar Words You Should Know

Noun Definition Basically, a noun is a person, place, or thing. The “thing” category also covers animals, qualities (like “kindness”), and ideas (like “justice”). This is the largest category of words in English. What Do Nouns Do? In a sentence, Read more…


“May” vs. “Might”: What’s the Difference?

May and might are pretty similar words: they both have to do with possibility and probability. However, these words have their differences. So what ARE those differences, and when do you need to be careful to not mix up the Read more…


“Compose” and “Comprise”: What’s the Difference?

There are plenty of English words that get mixed up all the time, like lay and lie, ensure and insure, compliment and complement, etc. Now, it’s time to talk about compose and comprise! Both compose and comprise have to do Read more…


“Lay” and “Lie” Are NOT the Same Word (So What’s the Difference?)

If you ever feel the need to short-circuit a grammarian, just ask them to explain the difference between lay and lie. The technical difference between these two words is simple enough; however, once we get into the weeds about what Read more…


Interrobang: What Is It and Why Haven’t You Ever Heard of It‽

Have you ever thought about where punctuation came from? The Birth of Punctuation You might think that periods, commas, semicolons, and dashes are as old as written language, but actually, for a long time, people would just write things down Read more…