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2025
Jan 2025
- Adverbs
- Words with double lives
- Words to describe people
- There's a word for it
Feb 2025
- Words made with combining forms
- Verbs
- Words with multiple personas
- Our own Wordle-style game
Mar 2025
- Words having nautical origins
- Five-letter words
- Food words used metaphorically
- There's a word for it
- Tools and devices that became metaphors
Apr 2025
- Toponyms
- Insults
- Dickensian eponyms
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
May 2025
- Words with all the vowels
- Interesting usage examples
- Bloody words!
- Whose what?
Jun 2025
- Words with movie connections
- Kings who became words
- Nouning verbs, verbing nouns
- Short words
- Unusual antonyms
Jul 2025
- Words related to colors
- Biblical idioms
- Back-formations
- Back-formations
Aug 2025
- Lewis Carroll
- Exempli gratia
- A cat-alogue of words
- Toponyms
Sep 2025
- Words made with combining forms
- Words relating to religion
- Misleading words
- Words with Seattle connections
- There is a word for it
Oct 2025
- Words with a bossy past
- Idioms & metaphors
- Adjectives
- There's a word for it
Nov 2025
- Adverbs
- Words from English English
- Words from English English
- Nouning the verb, verbing the noun
Dec 2025
Your theme here?
2024
Jan 2024
- "New" words
- Forgotten positives
- Words that have changed
- Eponyms
- There's a word for it
Feb 2024
- Words derived from food
- Words coined after animals
- Words for prisons
- Adjectives
Mar 2024
- Words derived from body parts
- Words entering English in the last 30 years
- Words made with letters that double as musical notes
- Verbing the noun, nouning the verb
Apr 2024
- Eclipse
- Words from chem lab
- Words made with combining forms
- Words related to the senses
- Words from geometry
May 2024
- Words related to mail
- Eponyms
- Words from music
- Terms formed from names
Jun 2024
- Words to describe people
- Misc words
- Kangaroo words
- There's a word for it
Jul 2024
- Americanisms
- Misleading words
- Whose what?
- Look Ma, no affix!
- Minced oaths
Aug 2024
- Loanwords and loan translations
- Coined words
- Adjectives
- Words used figuratively
Sep 2024
- Coined words
- Words with all the vowels
- Words made with combining forms
- Words differing by a letter
- Words differing by a letter
Oct 2024
- Eponymic adjectives
- Usage examples that are food for thought
- Words to describe US presidential candidates
- Lesser-known counterparts of words
Nov 2024
- Idioms & metaphors
- Words borrowed from Māori
- Words that appear to be misspelled
- Words that sound dirty, but aren't
Dec 2024
- Illustrated words
- Back-formations
- Words related to historical fashion
- No el
- Words coined in comic strips and cartoons
2023
Jan 2023
- Misc words
- There's a word for it
- Shoes
- Words borrowed from other languages
- Words with multiple meanings
Feb 2023
- Misleading words
- Words for colors
- Adverbs
- Nouns that are also verbs
Mar 2023
- Unusual synonyms
- Words related to the number 29
- Toponyms
- Wheels
Apr 2023
- There's a word for it
- Words about words
- Reborrowed words
- Homophones
May 2023
- Words from Star Wars
- Eponyms x2
- Words from ball games
- Metaphors & idioms
- Coined words
Jun 2023
- Weather & climate
- Double-duty words
- Words from science
- Toponyms
Jul 2023
- Misleading words
- Skunk words (words to avoid)
- Words derived from body parts
- Words from religion
- Lesser-known counterparts
Aug 2023
- Adjectives
- Words borrowed from Yiddish
- Terms used figuratively
- Words with AI usage examples
Sep 2023
- Misleading words
- Words related to time
- Words related to colors
- Biblical people and places that became words
Oct 2023
- Tosspot words
- Words for body parts
- Words derived from food
- There's a word for it
- Is it a noun, adjective, or verb?
Nov 2023
- Creative usage examples
- Well-traveled words
- Self-referential words
- Back-formations
Dec 2023
- Illustrated words
- Eponyms
- Verbing the noun
- No el
2022
Jan 2022
- Words for people
- Birds
- Words borrowed from Hebrew
- Anti-words
- Homonyms
Feb 2022
- There's a word for it
- Mythological characters who have resulted in multiple eponyms
- Words borrowed from German & Hawaiian
- Words originating in the hand
Mar 2022
- Overachievers from mythology
- You guess the words
- Verbs
- Clothes (or lack of them)
Apr 2022
- Words from chemistry
- Eponyms
- There's a verb form for it
- There's a word for it
May 2022
- New Words
- Words related to time
- Unusual synonyms
- Words that sound dirty (but aren't)
- Blend words
Jun 2022
- British streets that became words
- Eponyms
- Autological words
- Words originating in the hand
Jul 2022
- Blend words
- Words that appear to be misspelled
- Words illustrated with AI
- Words derived after names
Aug 2022
- Verbs
- Words coined after animals
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
- Movies that became words
- Metaphors & idioms
Sep 2022
- Flowers
- Misc words
- Words made with combining forms
- Words to describe people
Oct 2022
- Words that have changed
- Eponyms
- Portmanteaux
- There's a word for it
- Abbreviations, acronyms, and blends
Nov 2022
- Postpositives
- Words for people
- Which came first, noun or verb?
- Words originating in running
Dec 2022
- Illustrated words
- Words related to books
- No el
- Words with world records
2021
Jan 2021
- Usage examples that are food for thought
- Words with variant spellings
- Words to describe people
- It's raining cats & dogs
Feb 2021
- Eponyms
- There's a word for it
- To hyphenate or not to hyphenate?
- Toponyms
Mar 2021
- Words coined after Gulliver’s Travels
- Euryvocalic words
- Places that have given us multiple toponyms
- Words borrowed from Yiddish
- Places that have given us multiple toponyms
Apr 2021
- Eponyms
- Miscellaneous words
- Nouning verbs and verbing nouns
- Words made with animal parts
May 2021
- Well-traveled words
- Shirts
- Eponyms
- High-scoring words in Scrabble
Jun 2021
- Gold
- Nursery rhymes
- Contractions
- Rodents
- Words with many meanings
Jul 2021
- Metaphors
- Buildings and venues
- Words that aren't what they seem
- There's a word for it
Aug 2021
- Words to describe people
- Words that look one part of speech but are other
- Shoes
- Portmanteau words
- Words with unusual pronunciations
Sep 2021
- Eponyms
- There's a word for it
- Coined words
- Hand and mouth
Oct 2021
- Words related to writing
- Bird words
- Eponyms
- Words coined after fairy tales and folktales
Nov 2021
- There's a word for it
- Counterpart words
- Words with opposite or contradictory meanings
- Toponyms from London
- Perfect synonyms
Dec 2021
- Illustrated words
- Fruits
- No el
- There's a word for it
2020
Jan 2020
- Unusual synonyms
- Adverbs not ending in -ly
- Words used postpositively
- Words about books
Feb 2020
- Well-traveled words
- Words that appear dirty, but aren't
- Onomatopoeic words
- Adverbs
Mar 2020
- Tosspot words
- Yours to discover
- Reduplicatives
- Words derived from horses
- Words coined after mountains and hills
Apr 2020
- Eponyms
- Words formed by clipping
- Adverbs
- Words to describe people
May 2020
- Words related to the hand
- There's a word for it
- Which came first: the noun or the verb?
- What the h...
Jun 2020
- Words borrowed from Japanese
- Words coined after rivers
- Words made with combining forms
- Words coined after metals
- Back-formations
Jul 2020
- Shirts and pants as metaphors
- Misc. words
- Words coined after fairy-tale characters
- Words having origins in tree names
Aug 2020
- Words derived from body parts
- Characters related to slavery who have become words in the English language
- This pandemic in five words
- Words that appear to be misspellings
Sep 2020
- Horses
- Eponyms
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
- Shirts & pants
- Rivers
Oct 2020
- Words coined after mythical creatures
- Words about words and language
- Words that appear to be coined after presidential candidates
- Misc. words
Nov 2020
- Borrowed words
- Words having all five vowels and in order
- Words derived from body
- Supervocalic words
- Illustrated words
Dec 2020
- Words derived from metals
- One thing leads to another ...
- Words made with combining forms
- Words to describe people
2019
Jan 2019
- Blend words
- Adjectives
- Well-traveled words
- Words that have many unrelated meanings
Feb 2019
- Words made with combining forms
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
- Words with presidential connections
- Tosspot words
Mar 2019
- Words from previous years
- Words that have entered the language during the last 25 years
- Words that violate the i-before-e rule
- People who became verbs
Apr 2019
- Words that turn into other words when beheaded
- Words related to bones
- Words related to books
- Eponyms
- People who became verbs
May 2019
- Words from singer-songwriter Roy Zimmerman's songs
- Portmanteaux
- Tosspot words borrowed from other languages
- Words originating in shoes
Jun 2019
- Weird plurals
- People who have had multiple words coined after them
- People with multiple eponyms coined after them
- Words originating in horses
Jul 2019
- Whose what?
- Words that aren’t what they appear to be
- Words originating in the moon
- Toponyms
- Powered by kids
Aug 2019
- Words borrowed (adopted) from other languages
- Words from space travel
- People who have become verbs
- Palindromes
Sep 2019
- Coined words
- There's an antonym for it
- Shakespearean insults
- Random words
Oct 2019
- There's a word for it
- Pessimists and optimists from fiction who became words
- Words coined after days of the week
- There's a word for it
- Eponyms from fiction
Nov 2019
- Words originating in the hand
- Misc.words
- Words to describe people
- Words related to weapons
Dec 2019
- Illustrated words
- Biblical allusions
- Adverb? Not!
- No el
- Americanisms
2018
Jan 2018
- Blend words
- Long words with short definitions
- Nautical words
- Eponyms
- Words that turn into another when a letter is added or removed at the top
Feb 2018
- Words to describe people
- People who became verbs
- Miscellaneous words
- Adverbs
Mar 2018
- Five words that use all letters of the alphabet
- Tosspot words
- Words to describe people
- Words described using their anagrams
Apr 2018
- Coined words
- Words with odd pronunciations
- Phobias & Manias
- There's a word for it
- Coined words
May 2018
- Words derived from animals
- Words made using combining forms
- Eponyms coined after authors
- There's a word for it
Jun 2018
- Verbs
- Monosyllabic words
- Coined words
- Words from politics
Jul 2018
- Verbs
- Words relating to fruit
- There's a word for it
- Tosspot words
- Words that appear to be coined by flipping the letter p
Aug 2018
- Words related to veggies
- Words from 1984 that are now a part of the language
- Words that sound dirty
- Eponyms
Sep 2018
- Words coined by rhyming slang
- Words coined after stock characters
- Words that have many unrelated meanings
- Tosspot words
Oct 2018
- There's a word for it
- Blend words
- Words borrowed from Native American languages
- Words related to the eye
- There's a word for it
Nov 2018
- Random words
- Ridiculous words
- Musical words
- Verbs
Dec 2018
- Illustrated words
- Words for Hangman
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
- No el
- Words to describe people
2017
Jan 2017
- Words borrowed from Sanskrit
- Words that appear rude, but aren't
- Words borrowed from other languages
- Miscellaneous words
- Words borrowed from Yiddish
Feb 2017
- Eponyms
- American eponyms
- Origin unknown
- Words having nautical origins
Mar 2017
- Back-formations
- Miscellaneous words
- Words from chemistry
- When etymology meets entomology
Apr 2017
- Words with irregular plurals
- Words from Greek mythology
- Well-traveled words
- Toponyms
May 2017
- Ugly words
- Words originating in running
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
- Words borrowed from German
- Portmanteaux (blend words)
Jun 2017
- Nouns that became verbs
- Words borrowed from Persian
- Words derived from the names of parts of the body
- Terms from law
Jul 2017
- People who became verbs
- Short words
- Random words
- There's a word for it
- Places that became verbs
Aug 2017
- Words related to medicine
- Words from animals
- Miscellaneous words
- Linked words
Sep 2017
- Terms from ball games
- There's a word for it
- Words that result in another word when a single letter is prefixed
- Words to describe people
Oct 2017
- Words that sound taboo, but aren't
- There's a word for it
- Words made with combining forms
- Coined words
- Blend words
Nov 2017
- Unusual verbs
- Toponyms from fiction
- Words that have changed
- Toponyms
Dec 2017
- Illustrated words
- Sword Words
- There's a word for it
- No el
2016
Jan 2016
- New words
- Vocab words
- Clothing terms used metaphorically
- Words from mythology
Feb 2016
- Four-letter words
- Eponyms
- Words formed in error
- Miscellaneous words
- Well-traveled words
Mar 2016
- Unfamiliar cousins of everyday words
- Playing with words
- Words with unusual plurals
- There's a word for it
Apr 2016
- Blend words
- Coined words
- Words coined by Lewis Carroll
- Words to describe people
May 2016
- Words that appear misspelled
- Forgotten positives
- Miscellaneous words
- Yours to discover
Jun 2016
- Miscellaneous words
- Words that have changed
- Reduplicatives
- Unusual synonyms
- Color words derived from animals
Jul 2016
- Words with initial silent letters
- Miscellaneous words
- Words related to politics and elections
- Words to describe people
Aug 2016
- Verbs
- Contranyms (words with an opposite set of meanings)
- Words related to food
- There's an antonym for it
- Words related to clothing
Sep 2016
- Miscellaneous words
- Words to describe people
- Words borrowed from German
- Words coined after animals
Oct 2016
- Miscellaneous words
- Verbs
- Words that appear to be coined after someone (but aren't)
- Words formed by dialectal pronunciation
- Words made with combining forms
Nov 2016
- Miscellaneous words
- There's a word for it
- Don't judge a word by its sound
- Onomatopoeic words
Dec 2016
- Illustrated words
- Usage examples from well-known authors
- Words that keep glowing even with a burnt-out letter
- Long words
2015
Jan 2015
- Words relating to books
- There's a word for it
- Insults
- Words for diseases, used metaphorically
Feb 2015
- Words from the Bible
- Random words
- Words made with combining forms
- Latin terms in English
Mar 2015
- Words using only one of the vowels
- Poetic forms
- Words with all the vowels
- Unusual synonyms
- Words related to the names of planets
Apr 2015
- Kangaroo words
- Words related to books
- Words to describe people
- Duoliteral words
May 2015
- Words that turn into another word when beheaded
- Yiddish words to describe people
- Verbs
- Terms borrowed from French
Jun 2015
- There is a word for it
- Toponyms
- Random words
- Words derived from body parts
- What's a letter here or there between friends?
Jul 2015
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
- Words to describe people
- Words related to Pluto and its moons
- Words borrowed from Hebrew
Aug 2015
- Unusual verbs for everyday actions
- Words related to space
- Adverbs
- Eponyms
- Verbs
Sep 2015
- Characters from Don Quixote who became words
- Words coined after animals
- Words about words
- Short words
Oct 2015
- Bird words
- Words with hooks
- Words with Dutch connections
- Miscellaneous words
Nov 2015
- Unusual synonyms for everyday acts
- Words having all five vowels
- There's a word for it
- Words to describe people
- Illustrated words
Dec 2015
- Where's the rest of my word?
- Food as metaphor
- Yours to discover
- First words
2014
Jan 2014
- Miscellaneous words
- Words to describe people
- Toponyms
- Americanisms
Feb 2014
- Words from Harry Potter, by Guest Wordsmith, Ananya Garg
- Words from science fiction
- There's a word for it
- Words derived from hand
Mar 2014
- Verbs
- 20-letter words
- Miscellaneous words
- Words derived from card games
- Words from royalty
Apr 2014
- Words formed in error
- Words coined after Shakespearean characters
- Words to describe people
- Homonyms
May 2014
- Biblical characters who became words
- Blends
- Words coined after Shakespearean characters
- Miscellaneous words
Jun 2014
- Words from chemistry
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
- Words borrowed from Spanish
- Words coined after animals
- Words to describe people
Jul 2014
- Words that sound dirty, but aren't
- Words that appear to be misspellings
- Toponyms
- Words that have changed with time
Aug 2014
- Interesting usage examples
- Verbs derived from body parts
- Miscellaneous words
- Words that can't be analyzed easily
Sep 2014
- Words that have many unrelated meanings
- Verbs
- Adverbs
- Words made with combining forms
- Words borrowed from Yiddish
Oct 2014
- Words to describe people
- Words from mythology
- Words formed by metathesis (a transposition of sounds)
- Rhetorical devices
Nov 2014
- Well-traveled words
- Words that appear to be misspelled
- Words borrowed from German
- Eponyms
Dec 2014
- Words derived from body parts
- Illustrated words
- Terms with apostrophes
- Words from science that have different senses in everyday use
- New words (relatively speaking)
2013
Jan 2013
- Miscellaneous words
- Words derived from bodily fluids
- Eponyms
- There's a word for it
Feb 2013
- Words to describe people
- Words with initial silent letters
- Words for linguistic errors
- Words made with combining forms
Mar 2013
- There's a word for it
- Terms with connections to the number 19
- Contranyms
- Loan translations
Apr 2013
- Words to describe people
- Terms from law
- Words coined after proper names
- Onomatopoeic words
- Words borrowed from other languages
May 2013
- Terms that appear offensive but aren't
- Verbs
- Words coined after mountains
- What a difference a letter makes
Jun 2013
- Words that appear to be misspellings
- Miscellaneous words
- Words made with combining forms
- Words derived from animals
Jul 2013
- Words to describe people
- Words from poker
- Words that have many unrelated meanings
- Yours to discover
- Words seen in their plural forms
Aug 2013
- Words coined after baddies
- There's a word for it
- Baddies from fiction
- Words and medicine
Sep 2013
- Words borrowed from Japanese
- What to call people at work
- Words from goats
- Words about words
- Fossil words
Oct 2013
- Insults
- Words from diseases
- Miscellaneous words
- Eponyms
Nov 2013
- Words borrowed from Yiddish
- Words that are names
- Words coined after flowers
- Words that arose from cartoons
Dec 2013
- Illustrated words
- Words coined from body parts
- Verbs
- Words to describe people
- Short words
2012
Jan 2012
- "New" words
- Words coined using combining forms
- Miscellaneous words
- Words from the Mediterranean
- Dickensian characters that became words
Feb 2012
- Words to describe people
- Words coined after gods and goddesses
- Words that are formed as a plural but are now used as singular
- Words with hidden animals
Mar 2012
- Slang
- 18-letter words to mark Wordsmith.org's octodecennial
- Words with multiple, unrelated meanings
- Verbs
Apr 2012
- French words that are now anglicized
- Words of nautical origins
- Words that have meanings in multiple parts of speech
- Words from fencing
- Eponyms
May 2012
- Miscellaneous words
- Words with allusions to geometrical shapes
- Metallic metaphors
- Insults
Jun 2012
- Contranyms
- Verbs
- Back-formations
- Words with variant spellings
Jul 2012
- Words made with combining forms
- Words borrowed from French
- Short words
- Adverbs
- Words that have the plural spelled the same but pronounced differently
Aug 2012
- Reduplicatives
- Latin terms in English
- Slang
- Usage examples that are food for thought
Sep 2012
- Whose what?
- Words to describe people
- Random words
- Verbs
Oct 2012
- Words from classical mythology
- Miscellaneous words
- Optimists and pessimists from fiction who became words
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
- Words that appear to have been coined after the 2012 US presidential candidates
Nov 2012
- Words to describe people
- Words borrowed from German
- Eponyms and toponyms
- Illustrated words
Dec 2012
- Words derived from numbers
- Words to describe people
- Yours to discover
- Words from various languages that built the English language
- "New" words
2011
Jan 2011
- Words related to trees and plants
- Short words
- Verbs
- Words with no repeating letters
Feb 2011
- Words derived from the names of places
- Words to describe people
- Polysemantic words
- Words with unusual plurals
- Words borrowed from German
Mar 2011
- Words with hidden animals
- Seventeen-letter words to mark Wordsmith.org's septendecennial
- Miscellaneous words
- Words for body parts used figuratively
Apr 2011
- Words borrowed from French
- Words originating in knots
- Words derived from musical instruments
- Words related to clothing
May 2011
- Biblical characters who became words
- There is a word for it
- Words related to circus
- Words to describe people
- Words made with combining forms
Jun 2011
- Onomatopoeic words
- Verbs
- Biblical places that became words
- Eponyms
Jul 2011
- Contranyms
- Professions that exist mainly as surnames
- Words of French origin
- Animal words that are used metaphorically
Aug 2011
- Yours to discover
- What do these car names mean?
- Words that have many unrelated meanings
- Words to describe people
- Miscellaneous words
Sep 2011
- Interjections
- Words made with combining forms
- Words about books
- Eponyms
Oct 2011
- There's a word for it
- Negative words
- Back-formations
- Whose what?
- Fabric words used metaphorically
Nov 2011
- There's a word for it
- Words with unusual arrangement of letters
- Words borrowed from languages that are now extinct
- Illustrated words
Dec 2011
- Words from Iraq
- Words from Yiddish
- Words to describe various bodily configurations
- Archaic words
2010
Jan 2010
- Covering the extremities
- Words relating to religion
- Miscellaneous words
- Words made with combining forms
Feb 2010
- Eponyms
- Verbs
- Words from London
- Latin terms in English
Mar 2010
- Words borrowed from various languages
- Words related to 16
- Words about food and eating
- Loan translations
- Words borrowed from German
Apr 2010
- Miscellaneous words
- Toponyms
- Allusions
- Back-formations
May 2010
- Verbally speaking
- Words derived after mythical places
- Whose What?
- Words having many unrelated meanings
- Words not named after the person they should be
Jun 2010
- Words that appear plural but aren't
- Words related to weather
- Words to describe people
- Dirty words
Jul 2010
- Words made with combining forms
- Miscellaneous words
- Words that look one part of speech but are other
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
Aug 2010
- Words for insults
- Glacial landforms
- Words that appear beheaded
- Random words
- Terms from French
Sep 2010
- Words related to spinning
- Fabled lands
- Letter words
- Words related to censorship
Oct 2010
- Words about relations
- Words about colors
- Eponyms
- Words made with combining forms
Nov 2010
- Back-formations
- Assorted words
- Adverbs
- Words borrowed from Yiddish
- Words with unusual initial consonants
Dec 2010
- What to avoid when using words
- Words made with combining forms
- No el
- Words derived from body parts
2009
Jan 2009
- Miscellaneous words
- "New" words
- Words from Obama
- Latin terms in English
Feb 2009
- Words from Darwin and Lincoln
- Words derived from birds
- Whose what?
- Words to describe people
Mar 2009
- Terms from French
- 15-letter words
- Words with no repeating letters
- Double trouble
- A random walk through the dictionary
Apr 2009
- People who have more than one word coined after them
- Terms from French
- There's a word for it
- Words for him and her
May 2009
- Forgotten positives
- Verbs
- Fabric words used metaphorically
- Words derived from numbers
Jun 2009
- Words having many unrelated meanings
- Eponyms
- Medicinal words to describe people
- Miscellaneous words
- Slang
Jul 2009
- Words with three letters in alphabetic sequence
- Words from geology
- Miscellaneous words
- Combining forms
Aug 2009
- Eponymous pairs
- Short words
- Words that exercise all your fingers
- Illustrated words
- Animal words
Sep 2009
- Yours to discover
- Eponyms
- Words about censorship and destruction of books
- Words derived from hands and feet
Oct 2009
- Autumn colors
- Terms from law
- Miscellaneous words
- Eponyms
Nov 2009
- There is a word for it
- Words related to horses
- Verbs
- Adverbs
- Terms from French
Dec 2009
- Words about words
- Miscellaneous words
- Fear and desire
- Words that have changed with time
2008
Jan 2008
- Whose what? (animal edition)
- Miscellaneous words
- Words with color as metaphor
- What does that company name mean?
Feb 2008
- Words related to sleep
- Words related to medicine
- Short words
- Whose what? (named after specific persons)
Mar 2008
- Lesser-known counterparts of common words
- Words to mark the quadridecennial of the founding of Wordsmith.org: 14-letter words, 14-letter definitions
- Words from guest wordsmith Matt Ball, founder of Vegan Outreach
- Words from Yiddish
- Words formed by contraction
Apr 2008
- Words to describe people
- Words made using combining forms
- Verbs
- Words derived from the names of mythical creatures
May 2008
- Eponyms
- Words related to beards
- Eponyms
- Archaic words
Jun 2008
- Insults
- Words borrowed from Irish
- Toponyms
- Whose what?
- Words from medicine
Jul 2008
- Words made using combining forms
- Words related to royalty
- Words about words and language
- Words with hidden connections to animals
Aug 2008
- Metaphorical descriptions of people
- Miscellaneous words
- Words for physical characteristics used to describe people figuratively
- Why use a simple word?
Sep 2008
- Words that appear to be misspellings
- Toponyms
- Words with nautical origins
- Words from geology and geography
- Insults
Oct 2008
- There is a word for it
- Words about words
- Words that appear to have been coined after the 2008 US presidential candidates
- Contranyms
Nov 2008
- Prepositions
- Portmanteaux
- Miscellaneous words
- Unusual conjunctions
Dec 2008
- Americanisms
- Words related to the shaping of trees
- Toponyms from India
- Words related to the names of fish
- Uncommon adverbs
2007
Jan 2007
- Odd-looking words
- Words that have many unrelated meanings
- Eponyms
- Yours to discover
- Words with hidden animals
Feb 2007
- Miscellaneous words
- Words that are homophones of everyday words
- Porcine words to mark the Chinese new year
- There is a word for it
Mar 2007
- Latin terms in English
- Words related to the number 13 to mark the thirteenth anniversary of Wordsmith.org
- Hair today, gone tomorrow
- Miscellaneous words
Apr 2007
- Professions of the past
- Words that seem risque
- Words for odds and ends
- Words having vowels aeiou once and only once, and in order
- Words about words
May 2007
- Expressions coined after the names of birds
- Eponyms
- Words borrowed from Spanish
- Words to describe people
Jun 2007
- Words that turn into other words when beheaded
- Archaic words
- Toponyms coined after places in Ireland
- Miscellaneous words
Jul 2007
- Words from theater
- Words about diplomacy
- Words from the writing of Guest Wordsmith, Judge Bruce M. Selya
- Unusual words used in famous quotations
- Words with double connections
Aug 2007
- Red-herring words
- Words related to calendar
- Words with hidden animals
- Miscellaneous words
Sep 2007
- Words derived from Indo-European roots
- Words formed by false splitting
- Fabric words used metaphorically
- Toponyms
Oct 2007
- Miscellaneous words
- Terms from law
- Words for bosses, officials, and leaders
- There is a word for it
- Words related to food
Nov 2007
- Adjectives
- Words to describe people
- Eponyms
- Words with a built-in definite article
Dec 2007
- Miscellaneous words
- Whose what?
- Yours to discover
- Words borrowed from other languages
- Newly coined words
2006
Jan 2006
- Words related to time
- Words to describe people
- Words better known in their negative forms
- Words related to repartee
- Less-known synonyms of everyday words
Feb 2006
- Loanwords from Sanskrit
- Coined words
- Red-herring words
- Miscellaneous words
Mar 2006
- Words borrowed from German
- Words related to number 12, to mark the 12th anniversary of the founding of Wordsmith.org.
- Words about war
- Words related to archery
Apr 2006
- Terms imported from other languages
- Words related to death and taxes
- Words about books
- Uncommon words with common suffixes or prefixes
May 2006
- Words from games and sports
- Yours to discover
- Unusual words
- Short words
- Adjectives used postpositively
Jun 2006
- Long words
- Fear and Desire
- Professions that exist mainly as surnames
- Words related to shoes
Jul 2006
- Yours to discover
- Words related to the eyes
- Words from Yiddish
- Eponyms
- Verbs
Aug 2006
- Words related to forecasting and divination
- Miscellaneous words
- There is a word for it
- Words about poetry
Sep 2006
- Words from chemistry
- Slang/informal terms
- Words related to pirates
- Miscellaneous words
Oct 2006
- Words related to teaching, learning, and schools
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
- Words about books
- Words to describe people
- Ordinal words
Nov 2006
- Portmanteaux or blend words
- Words with a built-in definite article
- Miscellaneous words
- Words that appear to be misspellings
Dec 2006
- Desserts used metaphorically
- Words for body parts used figuratively
- Reduplicatives
- Adjectives used postpositively
2005
Jan 2005
- Words borrowed from other languages
- Words related to movie making
- Miscellaneous words
- Reduplicatives
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
Feb 2005
- Words related to art
- Feminine and masculine forms of words
- Words borrowed from Spanish
- Words related to eating and drinking
Mar 2005
- Toponyms
- Words related to the number eleven
- Words to describe people
- Words about wordplay
Apr 2005
- Words derived from mythical creatures
- Words relating to religion
- Words about books
- Verbs
May 2005
- Allusions and personifications
- Miscellaneous words
- Eponyms
- Insults
- Words from music
Jun 2005
- Words from the 2005 Spelling Bee
- Slang
- Words from The Devil's Dictionary
- Archaic words
Jul 2005
- Terms from Latin
- Words from movie titles
- Words derived from Italian landmarks
- Words related to forecasting
Aug 2005
- Biblical allusions
- Words to describe people
- Words that appear to be misspellings
- Miscellaneous words
- Words related to medicine
Sep 2005
- Metaphorical terms having origins in New York
- Collective nouns
- Words about words (nyms)
- Words for colors
Oct 2005
- Words formed using combining forms
- Eponyms
- Words about words
- There is a word for it
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
Nov 2005
- French terms for food
- Words from the plant kingdom
- Uncommon homophones of common words
- Assorted words
Dec 2005
- Eponyms
- Terms from French
- Words related to words, writing, and language
- Words to describe the Earth's features
2004
Jan 2004
- Earls who became words (or places that became words)
- Words related to medicine
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
- Assorted words
Feb 2004
- Words with variant spellings
- Words borrowed from Yiddish
- Yours to discover
- Words for insults
Mar 2004
- Words for body parts used figuratively
- Words related to writing
- Words related to elections
- Descriptive words to apply to people
- Unusual words
Apr 2004
- Words from law
- Contranyms: words with opposite meanings
- Eponyms
- Miscellaneous words
May 2004
- Words that appear contradictory
- Words to describe people
- Words about relations
- Coined words
- Words from French
Jun 2004
- Unusual verbs
- Words to describe physical characteristics of people
- Words to highlight rankism
- Eponyms
Jul 2004
- Miscellaneous words
- Words to describe people
- Expressions derived from pet animals
- Unusual words
Aug 2004
- Words derived from Old English
- Toponyms or words derived from place names
- Latin expressions
- Words from Greek
- Words that are also names
Sep 2004
- Miscellaneous words
- Archaic words
- Words borrowed from other languages
- Slang
Oct 2004
- Miscellaneous words
- Words to describe people
- Words from politics and elections
- Eponyms
Nov 2004
- Toponyms
- What do those car names mean?
- Words to describe women
- Miscellaneous words
- Short words
Dec 2004
- Words from the world of money and finance
- Hair today, gone tomorrow
- Eponyms
- Words to describe people
2003
Jan 2003
- Words about words
- Words from the word game Derivation
- Eponyms
- Verbs
Feb 2003
- What does that company name mean?
- Toponyms
- Words with interesting etymologies
- Words to describe people
Mar 2003
- Words from mathematics that have other meanings as well
- Words about collecting and study of things
- Miscellaneous words
- Words from the world of law
- Words based on numbers
Apr 2003
- Words to describe poetic forms
- Words derived from many different languages
- Toponyms
- Words to describe people
May 2003
- Words to describe words
- Miscellaneous words
- Words borrowed from African languages
- Metal words used as metaphors
Jun 2003
- Numeric terms
- Yours to discover
- Anglo-Saxon words
- Slang/informal terms
- Miscellaneous words
Jul 2003
- Abbreviations and acronyms
- Words from architecture
- Words that aren't what they appear to be
- Words of horse-related origins
Aug 2003
- Words of horse-related origins
- Eponyms: Words coined after someone's name
- Portmanteau or blend words
- Words to describe your opponents
Sep 2003
- Words with origins in war
- Terms from Latin
- Words related to the solar system
- Words originating in Cantonese
- Words originating in Southeast Asian countries
Oct 2003
- Words based on numbers
- Words originating in Australia
- Words from the works of Gwendolyn Brooks
- Words derived from Sanskrit
Nov 2003
- Eponyms
- Archaic words
- Miscellaneous words
- Words formed in error
Dec 2003
- Words borrowed from Native American languages
- Words borrowed from Spanish
- Words from aviation
- Words to describe people
- Words related to movies
2002
Jan 2002
- Words from sports
- Words to describe people
- Words with Italian connection
- Coined words
Feb 2002
- Toponyms or words derived from place names
- Miscellaneous words
- Words with presidential connections
- Words from theater
Mar 2002
- Words to describe people
- Words from Russian
- Eponyms
- Words that seem unreal
Apr 2002
- Loanwords from Spanish
- Terms with origins in food
- You guess the theme
- Words about books and writing
- Words from Yiddish
May 2002
- Words from law
- Toponyms
- Words that appear misspelled
- Words from Arabic
Jun 2002
- Words formed erroneously
- What's in a name?
- Words based on fish names
- Words that appear misleading
Jul 2002
- Eponyms from fiction
- Yours to discover
- Terms employing various nationalities
- Words with double connections
- Words related to calendar
Aug 2002
- False cognates (words that appear to be related but aren't)
- Red-herring words
- Terms related to the body
- Words about buying and selling
Sep 2002
- AEIOU words
- Miscellaneous words
- Words that have changed meaning with time
- Words about wordplay
- Eponyms
Oct 2002
- Words from Gulliver's Travels
- Words about words
- Lesser-known antonyms of everyday words
- Words to describe people
Nov 2002
- Words borrowed from other languages
- Words from medicine
- Words from poetry
- Kangaroo words
Dec 2002
- Toponyms
- Words from the major source languages of English
- Short words
- Miscellaneous words
- Words from the military
2001
Jan 2001
- Words better known in their negative forms
- Yours to discover
- Words from Dante's Inferno, a verse translation by Jean Hollander and Robert Hollander
- Words from "Made in Japan", by Sony co-founder Akio Morita
- Less well-known synonyms of everyday words
Feb 2001
- Words from speeches
- Words with all the vowels
- Coined words
- English as a global language
Mar 2001
- Eponyms
- Words from AWAD archives
- Words about words
- Uncommon words with common suffixes
Apr 2001
- Words to describe people
- Words to describe odds and ends
- Words formed by metathesis or transposing letter (false splitting)
- Eponyms
- Wordpix
May 2001
- Wordpix
- Ordinal words
- Words for odds and ends
- Words to describe people
Jun 2001
- Words from the names of newspapers
- Red-herring words
- Yours to discover
- New words in the Oxford English Dictionary
Jul 2001
- Words ending in "eric"
- Words from war
- Words for physical characteristics used to describe people figuratively
- Less-known counterparts of everyday words
- Words evolved using folk etymologies
Aug 2001
- Words from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writings
- Words about words
- Words formed using combining forms
- Words related to places
Sep 2001
- Words related to body parts that are used metaphorically
- Eponyms
- Latin terms
- Verbs
Oct 2001
- Words from chess
- Unusual words
- Words with color as metaphor
- Animal words
- Red-herring words
Nov 2001
- Words to describe people
- Words from mathematics
- Words that appear to be mis-spellings of everyday words
- Wordpix
Dec 2001
- Eponyms
- Nyms
- Irregular plurals
- Archaic words
- Words about words
2000
Jan 2000
- Words for miscellany
- Coined words
- Words often used in a sense different from their established definitions
- Words that have reversed their meaning
- Yours to discover
Feb 2000
- Words about words
- Words not to put on a resume
- Verbs
- Eponyms
Mar 2000
- Toponyms
- Words from newspapers of the world
- Loanwords from German
- Eponyms
Apr 2000
- Miscellaneous words
- Words to describe people
- Words about words
- Words with unusual etymologies
May 2000
- Words with animals
- Words from classical mythology
- Words about words
- Words that sprout other words when beheaded
- Words from medicine
Jun 2000
- Words from government, politics, and elections
- Words about book-lovers
- Feminine and masculine forms of words
- Red-herring words
Jul 2000
- Unusual, esoteric, preposterous words
- Words to drop into conversation with a therapist
- Words for ailments and afflictions
- Eponyms
- You discover the themes of the words
Aug 2000
- Words about books and writing
- Words that make one say, "I didn't know there was a word for that."
- Words from Italian
- Words from the world of learning
Sep 2000
- Syndromes, principle, rule, law, corollary
- Words from the hackers' jargon
- Words about words
- Brand names that have entered the dictionary
Oct 2000
- Words from Gandhi's autobiography
- Words with ambigrams
(we reduced to five words a week starting this week)
- Semordnilaps, or words that spell other words when reversed
- Words to describe people
- Words to mark Halloween
Nov 2000
- Eponyms
- Words from German
- Words from the world of literature
- Animal words that are used figuratively
Dec 2000
- Fictional characters who live on in the dictionary
- Words from poetry
- Animal words that are used metaphorically
- Words about words
1999
Jan 1999
- Tree words
- Reduplicatives
- Words about people and food
- Words about books
Feb 1999
- Words related to eating and food
- Nautical words
- Words about words
- Words from the names of newspapers
Mar 1999
- Words derived by adding suffixes
- Pi words to mark Pi Day (March 14)
- Words derived by adding prefixes
- Words about punctuation and diacritics
- Words that go out of their way to not apply to themselves
Apr 1999
- Eponyms
- Toponyms
- Words from Greek mythology
- Words with slightly different spellings from some everyday words
May 1999
- Words with slightly different spellings from some everyday words
- Words about diplomacy
- Readers to discover the theme (answer)
- Words from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce
- Loanwords from Hindi and Sanskrit
Jun 1999
- Collective nouns
- What would you ask words if you could speak with them?
- Eponyms
- Words to describe people
Jul 1999
- Verbs
- Words with variant spellings
- Eponyms
- Words about teeth
Aug 1999
- Words from Greek and Roman mythology
- Words or phrases from the titles of fictional works
- Eponyms
- Words with no theme
- Loanwords from Japanese
Sep 1999
- Words with no theme
- Eponyms
- Words about words
- Words about numbers
Oct 1999
- Words about colors
- Words about relations
- Greek words
- Toponyms or words derived from place names
Nov 1999
- Words for everyday things and anatomical features
- Words from Greek and Roman mythologies
- Words for animal offspring
- Words to describe people
- Words to describe people
Dec 1999
- Foreignisms
- Words related to the human body, its actions and conditions
- Coined words
- Words to describe people from particular places
1998
Jan 1998
- Words from chess
- Words about forts and castles
- machicolation
- postern
- rampart
- entresol
- garderobe
- groin
- oratory
- Words with numbers
- Words about pregnancy
- primipara
- gravid
- parity
- couvade
- natality
- parturition
- postpartum
Feb 1998
- Words about body parts
- glabella
- lunula
- uvula
- frenum
- axilla
- canthus
- gular
- Words from Joseph Heller's "Catch-22"
- motile
- mellifluous
- obstreperous
- rubicund
- expurgate
- rancor
- subcutaneous
- Hair today, gone tomorrow
- piliferous
- pilgarlic
- hispid
- glabrous
- hirsute
- alopecia
- chevelure
- Poison words
- mephitic
- envenom
- bane
- cyanosis
- toxicant
- noxious
- lavage
Mar 1998
- Words from the 3rd vol. of OED Additions
- affluential
- mediocracy
- luggable
- ableism
- animatronics
- exfiltrate
- maudit
- Words from Faulkner's "Mule in the Yard"
- suspiration
- burlesque
- celerity
- apotheosis
- hap
- indomitable
- bucolic
- Words with weird pronunciations
- chaos
- oeuvre
- segue
- rendezvous
- victual
- contretemps
Readers' comments:
AWADmail 8
- Words from Scott Joplin songs' titles
- knurl
- paragon
- euphony
- heliotrope
- felicity
- kismet
- nonpareil
- augustan
Readers' comments:
AWADmail 9
- Short words
- vim
- fey
- gest
- kip
- dun
- purl
- maw
Readers' comments:
AWADmail 10
Apr 1998
- People and places that became words
- dunce
- baedeker
- casanova
- caucus
- aceldama
- babel
- shillelagh
- Words with interesting histories
- prude
- debunk
- apartheid
- cabal
- dicker
- midwife
- maroon
- Words with interesting histories
- comstockery
- seersucker
- rankle
- trump
- fizzle
- sleuth
- vogue
- Words about the quality of speech
- jape
- badinage
- confabulate
- snivel
- importune
- implore
- bluster
May 1998
- Words about symbols
- caduceus
- chevron
- escutcheon
- totem
- ideogram
- oriflamme
- hieroglyphic
- Words with interesting histories
- earwig
- chaperon
- impeach
- dirge
- ennui
- acrostic
- exorcise
- Words with interesting histories
- kaput
- embargo
- lucre
- superman
- sarcophagus
- iconoclast
- typhoon
- Words with interesting histories
- ombudsman
- diatribe
- posthumous
- mascot
- bigot
- goatee
- chivalry
Jun 1998
- Words from 1998 Spelling Bee
- daedal
- maieutic
- sang-froid
- seriatim
- assonance
- integument
- codicil
- Words with novel pluralizations
- numen
- opus
- virtuoso
- occiput
- trousseau
- chrysalis
- stigma
- Words with novel pluralizations
- os
- calcar
- arcanum
- gravamen
- corpus
- lemma
- cherub
- Words that make you say, "Eschew obfuscation"
- splendiferous
- philoprogenitive
- comestible
- pulchritude
- apothegm
- cerumen
- pronunciamento
- Words with interesting origins
- bootleg
- haywire
- logrolling
- southpaw
- credenza
- supercilious
- red-letter
Jul 1998
- Words from "The Figured Wheel" a collection of poetry by Robert Pinsky
- marmoreal
- ichor
- brogan
- mullion
- mattock
- mortmain
- souk
- Words to describe people
- atrabilious
- cockalorum
- rock-ribbed
- troglodyte
- duplicitous
- caitiff
- ambidextrous
- To need or not to need
- desideratum
- bounden
- obviate
- behoove
- gratuitous
- substantive
- superfluous
Aug 1998
- Words of all kinds
- schadenfreude
- ormolu
- panspermia
- labret
- muliebrity
- discombobulate
- micturate
- Words of all kinds
- opuscule
- phantasmagoria
- coprolite
- grig
- fugacious
- tyro
- tocsin
- People and places that became words
- boycott
- shangri-la
- bluestocking
- ritzy
- leotard
- jodhpurs
- limerick
- People and places that became words
- rialto
- karst
- psyche
- spa
- bobby
- pantaloon
- jesuit
Readers' comments:
AWADmail 11
- Words from math
- osculate
- vinculum
- singularity
- annulus
- protract
- involution
- congruent
Sep 1998
- Words with synonyms that appear suspiciously like their antonyms
- flammable
- personate
- tegument
- criminate
- privation
- filiation
- candescence
- Reduplicatives
- tussie-mussie
- herky-jerky
- knickknack
- wishy-washy
- shilly-shally
- pell-mell
- mishmash
- Eponyms
- chauvinism
- tattersall
- titian
- simony
- romeo
- pinchbeck
- jacobin
- Places that became words
- laputan
- vesuvian
- siamese
- canter
- geyser
- tenderloin
- alpine
Oct 1998
- Words derived from place names (toponyms)
- orrery
- capitol
- piedmont
- balkanize
- monadnock
- mocha
- sodom
- Meta words or words about words
- heteronym
- pangram
- toponym
- word-hoard
- etymon
- logogram
- wordmonger
- Portmanteaux or blend words
- cremains
- pennant
- fruitarian
- cinematheque
- blaxploitation
- carmine
- birl
- Words about writing
- bildungsroman
- palinode
- litterateur
- palimpsest
- peripeteia
- excursus
- roman-fleuve
Nov 1998
- Words that violate the "i before e" rule
- Back-formations
- A verbal zoo
- Words to describe people
- Words with an unusual arrangement of letters
Dec 1998
- Words about oceans and seas
- Idioms
- Eponyms
- False splitting
1997
Jan 1997
- Eponyms
- benedict
- jonah
- gascon
- sibyl
- vestal
- magdalen
- bantam
- Loanwords from Spanish
- camarilla
- peccadillo
- paseo
- picaresque
- picaro
- picaroon
- fandango
- Eponyms
- lucullan
- jezebel
- apocalypse
- armageddon
- calvary
- bunkum
- scapegoat
- Things Are Seldom What They Seem
- noisome
- froward
- cupidity
- toxophilite
- fatuous
- antimacassar
- comity
Feb 1997
- Slang
- copacetic
- shamus
- switcheroo
- moola
- schmo
- dibs
- heist
- Valentine's Day: words of affection, passion, and romance
- aubade
- inamorata
- amative
- moonstruck
- amoretto
- paean
- amorist
- Cold words
- gelid
- hyperborean
- frigorific
- pogonip
- furfuraceous
- lyophilize
- congeal
- Eponyms
- pierian
- janus-faced
- galahad
- dionysian
- marplot
- falstaffian
- apollonian
Mar 1997
- Eponyms
- nimrod
- boswell
- panglossian
- luddite
- midas
- philistine
- serendipity
- AWAD's third anniversary: Words from AWAD archives
- defenestration
- omphaloskepsis
- cwm
- quiddity
- decalcomania
- abiogenesis
- billingsgate
Readers' comments:
AWADmail 5
- Incubus, and what else to avoid while shopping for shoes
- incubus
- succubus
- cassandra
- banshee
- maenad
- snollygoster
- lolita
Readers' comments:
AWADmail 6
- Words from Rabindranath Tagore's "Geetanjali"
- dreary
- maya
- vagrant
- evanescent
- clamorous
- penury
- boisterous
Readers' comments:
AWADmail 7
- Eponyms
- fagin
- pavlovian
- lilliputian
- pharisaical
- clerihew
- jorum
- pygmalionism
Apr 1997
- Words from Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels"
- lenitive
- restive
- apothecary
- prognostic
- lenity
- cashier
- diadem
- Portmanteau words
- palimony
- muzzy
- prissy
- ruckus
- splurge
- splatter
- splotch
- "It was a dark and stormy night..."
- pabulum
- taradiddle
- fustian
- bombast
- screed
- circumlocution
- penster
- Similar sounding ten* words that can be confusing
- tenacious
- tenuous
- tendentious
- tendinous
- tenebrous
- tenesmus
- tenuis
May 1997
- Loanwords from Spanish
- lariat
- disembogue
- vaquero
- aficionado
- bonanza
- bastinado
- calaboose
- Looong words
- deinstitutionalization
- honorificabilitudinity
- antidisestablishmentarianism
- floccinaucinihilipilification
- hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian
- supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
- pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
- Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet"
- minatory
- ineffable
- bumptious
- sonorous
- piquant
- necromancer
- effusion
- Dickensian characters who have turned into eponyms
- bumbledom
- micawber
- gradgrind
- podsnap
- chadband
- stiggins
- gamp
Jun 1997
- Words from 1997 Spelling Bee
- usufructuary
- deliquesce
- enfilade
- bruit
- quodlibet
- cenotaph
- appulse
- Words from Patrick O'Brian's novels
- pule
- contubernal
- grizzle
- urinator
- mammothrept
- miasma
- esculent
- Eponyms
- samson
- vandal
- solomon
- hegira
- barmecide
- dulcinea
- sophist
- Words pertaining to animals
- vulpine
- ursine
- leonine
- lupine
- porcine
- hircine
- ranine
- Professions of yesterday that now exist mostly as surnames
- chandler
- wheelwright
- bowyer
- cooper
- sawyer
- tinker
- fletcher
Jul 1997
- AWAD's recommendations for some unusual areas to work in
- demonology
- cryptozoology
- ufology
- phyllotaxis
- myrmecology
- pharology
- aristology
- Tongue twisters
- indubitability
- vicissitudinous
- latitudinarian
- indefatigability
- incogitativity
- incommensurability
- inconsequentiality
- "These are all real words."
- crapulous
- callipygian
- fard
- hootenanny
- ripsnorter
- nuncupative
- formication
- Twin words
- contumacious
- perspicacious
- provenance
- acerbate
- malefic
- immanent
- phylogeny
Aug 1997
- Words from chemistry
- bromidic
- acidulous
- caustic
- fulminate
- vitriolic
- acidic
- miscible
- Eponyms and toponyms
- scaramouch
- golconda
- scylla
- pandemonium
- deipnosophist
- milliner
- milesian
- Coined words
- googol
- blurb
- boondoggle
- heebie-jeebies
- quark
- kludge
- runcible
- Words about laughing
- cachinnation
- titter
- cackle
- chortle
- snicker
- fleer
- risible
Sep 1997
- Trademarks that are often used figuratively
- band-aid
- teflon
- ping-pong
- technicolor
- jell-o
- kleenex
- yo-yo
- Eponyms from fiction
- paparazzo
- blimp
- pollyanna
- fauntleroy
- boniface
- skunkworks
- rambo
- Fear and desire
- agoraphobia
- erotomania
- acrophobia
- dipsomania
- xenophobia
- mythomania
- panophobia
- Figures of speech
- prolepsis
- anastrophe
- aposiopesis
- enjambment
- anaphora
- polysyndeton
- apophasis
- Words about stamps
- cachet
- carnet
- indicia
- se-tenant
- frank
- imperforate
- tete-beche
Oct 1997
- Toponyms
- fescennine
- mecca
- golgotha
- marathon
- waterloo
- hallmark
- watergate
- Positional words
- antipodal
- intercostal
- obverse
- antepenult
- primogeniture
- cater-cornered
- geostationary
- Aeiou words or words with all the vowels
- abstemious
- duoliteral
- arterious
- subcontinental
- annelidous
- uncomplimentary
- facetious
- Skywatchers' watchwords
- perihelion
- azimuth
- occultation
- ephemeris
- retrograde
- libration
- planisphere
Nov 1997
- Oeuvres of nature
- fjord
- estuary
- massif
- peninsula
- terrain
- archipelago
- subterranean
- Words that seem risque
- vomitorium
- defalcate
- mensuration
- castigate
- schist
- fallacious
- menstruum
- Words from Gibran's Sand and Foam
- exalt
- spurn
- disdain
- caravan
- righteous
- dervish
- eternity
- Eponyms from fictional characters
- dagwood
- celadon
- cinderella
- bluebeard
- euphuism
- tappertitian
- simon-pure
Dec 1997
- Much Ado About Nothing
- kerf
- lacuna
- fissure
- breach
- aperture
- interstice
- weir
- Topology words
- isthmus
- contour
- culvert
- strand
- agglomerate
- terrace
- plateau
- Words from Tintin Comics
- skedaddle
- anacoluthon
- tattle
- anthropophagus
- oculist
- dowse
- ungulate
- Words from Tintin Comics
- perfidious
- menagerie
- sigillography
- palaver
- diabolical
- palliasse
- pestilential
- Words from Maya Chandrasekaran's novel
- precocious
- veritable
- condescend
- veritable
- fastidious
- doleful
- bedlam
1996
Jan 1996
- Misc. words
- esperance
- vivific
- sthenic
- utile
- demiurge
- Words from German
- blitzkrieg
- leitmotiv
- realpolitik
- weltanschauung
- sprachgefuhl
- weltschmerz
- diktat
- Eponyms
- mithridatism
- pecksniffian
- podunk
- pasquinade
- jabberwocky
- tantalus
- dishabille
- Miscellaneous words
- dishabille
- triste
- canton
- predilection
- ere
- digitate
- deuterogenesis
- solipsism
- Words from Greek mythology
- iliad
- nestor
- hector
- odyssey
- mentor
- harpy
- argus
Feb 1996
- Portmanteaux or blend words
- rurban
- meld
- slimsy
- squiggle
- weeny
- guesstimate
- contraption
- Miscellaneous words
- scissile
- conge
- nimiety
- congeries
- cosset
- enchiridion
- attar
- Back-formations
- dentulous
- cathect
- cerebrate
- callithump
- darkle
- esthesia
- Miscellaneous words
- factotum
- nescience
- portal-to-portal
- risibility
- supposititious
- scholiast
- thirl
Mar 1996
- Miscellaneous words
- mitigate
- oppugn
- reprise
- restaurateur
- solicitous
- tergiversation
- sapient
- Miscellaneous words
- outre
- phatic
- sedulous
- humdinger
- edacious
- infundibuliform
- decant
- Words about books
- festschrift
- fascicle
- hornbook
- pericope
- auctorial
- scholium
- screed
- Miscellaneous words
- soigne
- eclaircissement
- eclat
- pourboire
- pourparler
- praxis
- megrim
Apr 1996
- Miscellaneous words
- farouche
- gehenna
- billet-doux
- mulct
- jabberwocky
- chiliad
- Words about words
- tmesis
- sesquipedalian
- polysemous
- zeugma
- pleonasm
- periphrasis
- verbile
- Misc. words
- turnverein
- upas
- ana
- fug
- olio
- unco
- assiduous
- Miscellaneous words
- kef
- vigesimal
- inerrancy
- sapid
- tsunami
- loquacious
- chimera
- Words about numbers
- lakh
- sesquicentennial
- hebdomad
- lustrum
- duodecimal
- senary
- quinquennial
May 1996
- Eponyms
- shylock
- yahoo
- scrooge
- babbitt
- svengali
- tartuffe
- lothario
- Miscellaneous words
- conversazione
- hebetate
- sinecure
- sempiternal
- paladin
- rugose
- scion
- Miscellaneous words
- nocuous
- peccable
- orientate
- argufy
- illume
- nocent
- agon
- Miscellaneous words
- febrile
- famulus
- agley
- abrade
- rufous
- exsert
- exsiccate
Jun 1996
- Miscellaneous words
- exscind
- gustatory
- seigniorage
- egeria
- ananias
- fuddy-duddy
- pelagic
- Words from Greek mythology
- icarian
- gorgon
- palladium
- augean
- atlas
- sisyphean
- Miscellaneous words
- verboten
- nitid
- scabrous
- hyaline
- supererogatory
- compurgator
- laconic
- Bird words
- rictus
- psittacine
- avifauna
- ornithology
- struthious
- oology
- nidifugous
Jul 1996
- Miscellaneous words
- abrogate
- delphian
- narcissism
- sardonic
- raillery
- eupeptic
- connate
- Loanwords from Hindi
- juggernaut
- pukka
- wallah
- pundit
- shroff
- jungle
- nabob
- Words to mark the 1996 Summer Olympics
- olympian
- natation
- equitation
- atlantean
- quadrennial
- pugilism
- aedile
- Eponyms: Bad people in history who got a word after themselves
- gerrymander
- grangerize
- machiavellian
- highbinder
- guillotine
- charlatan
- Words about marriage
- espousal
- affine
- connubial
- uxorial
- affiance
- conjugal
- nuptial
Aug 1996
- Savory words
- sapor
- viand
- victual
- trencherman
- frugivorous
- pica
- aliment
- AWAD's guide to life on other planets
- plutonian
- martial
- saturnine
- earthy
- saturnalia
- mercurial
- jovial
- Eponyms
- pollyanna
- quixotic
- frankenstein
- braggadocio
- malapropism
- maffick
- martinet
- Eponyms
- pickwickian
- protean
- pyrrhonism
- punic
- achates
- shyster
- apollonian
Sep 1996
- Toponyms: Words after names of cities
- arcadia
- shanghai
- babylon
- bourbon
- cockaigne
- utopia
- bedlam
- Weather words
- canicular
- mammatocumulus
- pluvial
- weathercock
- foehn
- windflaw
- williwaw
- Eponyms
- eolian
- fabian
- cicerone
- hermetic
- punic
- mccoy
- tawdry
- Words about colors to mark the autumn
- variegate
- luteous
- limbate
- aureate
- sanguine
- ferruginous
- lurid
- Miscellaneous words
- solon
- mastodon
- bathos
- maudlin
- orphic
- morganatic
- rhymester
Oct 1996
- Loanwords from Sanskrit
- karma
- dharma
- mahatma
- avatar
- yoga
- sutra
- nirvana
- Flip-flop words
- hoity-toity
- hurly-burly
- hugger-mugger
- higgledy-piggledy
- hurry-scurry
- namby-pamby
- topsy-turvy
- Odds and ends
- pilgarlic
- querist
- supervenient
- oneiric
- eldritch
- discalced
- rowen
- Halloween words
- doppelganger
- gramarye
- thanatos
- sheol
- hades
- acheron
- inferno
Nov 1996
- Verbs
- intromit
- refocillate
- insolate
- excogitate
- comminute
- collocate
- fustigate
- Book words
- feuilleton
- chrestomathy
- bibelot
- pharmacopoeia
- flyleaf
- onomastic
- donnee
- Words about words
- paronomasia
- apocope
- fictioneer
- amphibology
- hypocorism
- syncope
- hendiadys
- Words of nautical origins
- scuttlebutt
- mainstay
- figurehead
- keelhaul
- leeway
- tack
- steerage
Dec 1996
- Eponyms
- philippic
- draconian
- tartar
- mccarthyism
- grog
- spartan
- mesmerism
- Eponyms from fiction
- dryasdust
- dundrearies
- sphinx
- ragamuffin
- lotus-eater
- procrustean
- goon
- Forgotten Positives
- ruth
- scrutable
- gainly
- maculate
- scrupulous
- licit
- clement
- Forgotten Positives
- corrigible
- evitable
- towardly
- wieldy
- mediate
- peccable
- couth
- Picturesque expressions
- johnny-on-the-spot
- high-muck-a-muck
- dyed-in-the-wool
- la-di-da
- bric-a-brac
- will-o'-the-wisp
- hop-o'-my-thumb
1995
(Weekly themes did not become a regular feature until Jun 1996)
Jan 1995
Feb 1995
Mar 1995
Apr 1995
May 1995
Jun 1995
Jul 1995
Aug 1995
Sep 1995
Oct 1995
Nov 1995
Dec 1995
1994
(Weekly themes did not become a regular feature until Jun 1996. AWAD began on Mar 14, 1994.)
Mar 1994
Apr 1994
May 1994
Jun 1994
Jul 1994
Aug 1994
Sep 1994
Oct 1994
Nov 1994
Dec 1994
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