It is said that the average speaker knows about 20,000 words. And that’s just the lower threshold! Some estimates say that ...
Only a true Definition Detective can spot a word’s actual meaning in a sea of fake ones. But fair warning: These are pretty tough terms.
In the second hour of "Connections with Evan Dawson" on 12/10/25, our expert panel returns to take our annual new words quiz ...
Welcome, wordsmiths and language lovers!📚You may think you have an impressive vocabulary, but it’s about time to put that ...
The words historical thesaurus may send children running to the hills, for fear they’re likely to be bored to death by some fellow with a monocle. But they also describe the richest reference you’ve ...
Even if you’re not a full-blown grammar nerd, you’ll find the origins of these words that changed meaning over time completely fascinating The English language is alive—and like any living thing, it ...
Having a large vocabulary is certainly helpful. It can impress a potential employer, or it can greatly aid you in your line of work if you’re a writer. If you’re a student, it could give you some ...
Children learn language effortlessly and completely voluntarily. They learn new words miraculously fast. A teenager masters about 60,000 words of their mother tongue by the time they finish high ...
Lewis Carroll didn’t just invent worlds, he also invented words. And the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland gave old words new meaning. The most famous example may be portmanteau, a name for a ...
Word meanings can shift radically, just like pronunciation. Called semantic change, a shift in a word's meaning occurs when frequent misuse becomes standard, or when metaphoric use becomes literal.