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Est. 1828
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Word History
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Grammar & Usage
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Wordplay Word History

Infographic: How a Word Gets Into the Dictionary

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dictionary infographic

This infographic is part of our series on slang in the dictionary. To read the article that accompanies this piece, click here.

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simulacrum

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Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries.  Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
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Popular

Word History

15 Words That Used to Mean Something Different

'Ganef,' 'Galoot,' and More Historical Slang Terms We Love

Where does 'hello' come from?

The Dangerous Creation of 'Limelight,' & More

Eavesdrop, Fiasco, and 8 More Words with Surprising Origins

See All

Wordplay

Sit, Shake, Pronk: 8 Words for Quirky Animal Behaviors

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Ten Painless Ways to Improve Your Vocabulary

How 'Namaste' Entered The English Language

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

See All

Grammar & Usage

Hypercorrections: Are you making these 6 common mistakes?

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Having a Think About 'Another Think/Thing Coming'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Words You Always Have to Look Up

See All
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