Springfield, MA, Sept. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)<\/a> — Today Merriam-Webster announced a glow-up<\/u><\/a> to its iconic dictionary with the addition of 1,400 new words and definitions. The new entries reflect words and meanings that have demonstrated widespread use over time, offering a window into the world today.<\/p>\n \u201cThe English language is changing rapidly,\u201d says Gregory Barlow, President of Merriam-Webster. \u201cIt’s our mission today\u2014as it has been for almost 200 years\u2014to chronicle those changes.\u201d <\/p>\n Among the new entries, social media culture provides the well-defined looksmaxxing<\/u><\/a>, the unrequited parasocial<\/u><\/a>, the ever-dangerous Rickroll<\/u><\/a> (that link is harmless; FAFO<\/u><\/a> safely), and, for some investors, the potentially more dangerous meme coin<\/u><\/a>. Congratulations to promposal<\/u><\/a> for getting picked, and to letterboxing<\/u><\/a> for a new digital sense to go with its 19th-century pastime.<\/p>\n Technology brings us compute<\/u><\/a> as a noun (a resource tech companies increasingly want more of), along with vibe coding<\/u><\/a> and AGI<\/u><\/a> (artificial general intelligence). It also brings us uncanny valley<\/u><\/a>, that creepy feeling that results from something artificial appearing almost\u2014but not quite\u2014human.<\/p>\n Edible newcomers include superfood<\/u><\/a>, \u201ca food (such as salmon, broccoli, or blueberries) that is rich in nutrients,\u201d and\u00a0 less super foods such as cake pop<\/u><\/a>. More savory additions include shishito<\/u><\/a>, \u201ca slender usually mild chili pepper of East Asia,\u201d and a bao<\/u><\/a> bun that might be delicious with chili crisp<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n Other words that identify how we live and feel today include cuffing season<\/u><\/a>, \u201ca time of the year when people who are not married or in a relationship begin looking for a short-term romantic partner to spend the colder months of the year with,\u201d plus the far less cozy Sunday scaries<\/u><\/a> and crashout<\/u><\/a>. Other new additions range from the frantic whack-a-mole<\/u><\/a>, which keeps popping up in the language, to the mellow yacht rock<\/u><\/a> and California sober<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>\n The dictionary has put on shapewear<\/u><\/a>, groomed its definition of neckbeard<\/u><\/a> (the fur itself and the supposed culture of those who have it), and acknowledged copium<\/u><\/a> without ingesting any. Readers who feel certain that Merriam-Webster hasn\u2019t defined trash panda<\/u><\/a> might simply be experiencing the Mandela Effect<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cOur lexicographers love the language,\u201d says Barlow, \u201cbut each set of new entries also reflects data-driven analysis of which words have been widely used over time. Millions of people come to us for guidance, and we\u2019re pleased that these new entries help all of us understand each other a little better.\u201d<\/p>\n An Infographic<\/u><\/a> on How a Word Gets Into the Dic<\/u>tionary<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n About Merriam-Webster Inc. For more information visit Merriam-Webster.com<\/u><\/a> and follow @MerriamWebster on X<\/u><\/a>, Facebook<\/u><\/a>, and Instagram<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Including Vibe Coding, Yacht Rock, Parasocial, and Mandela Effect Springfield, MA, Sept. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today Merriam-Webster announced a glow-up to its iconic dictionary with the addition of 1,400 new words and definitions. The new entries reflect words and meanings that have demonstrated widespread use over time, offering a window into the world […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[57166],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-globenewswire"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailybanglanewspapers.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Since 1828, Merriam-Webster has been America\u2019s leading provider of language information. Each month, our award-winning websites, apps, and social media channels offer guidance to tens of millions of visitors. In print, our publications include Merriam-Webster\u2019s Collegiate\u00ae Dictionary (among the best-selling books in American history) and books for students of all ages and abilities. All Merriam-Webster products and services are backed by the largest team of dictionary editors and writers in America.\u00a0<\/p>\nCONTACT: Meghan Lunghi\r\nMerriam-Webster Inc.\r\nmlunghi@m-w.com\r\n<\/pre>\n
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