May 2005

April's Top Twenty

The list of the most frequently looked-up words at the Merriam-Webster Online Web site in April leads off as usual with effect and affect in the top spots but includes three newcomers—pontiff at No. 5, conclave at No. 9, and filibuster at No. 17—and one word, insipid, that took a big jump up to No. 3.

Get April's full Top Twenty word list—and the strange story behind insipid and a popular television show.

June 2005

May's Top Twenty

To no one's surprise, filibuster was the big word in May, jumping to the No. 2 spot among the most frequently looked up words on Merriam-Webster Online. The surprise word of the month was inept, which jumped from relative obscurity to the No. 8 spot.

Get the full Top Twenty word list—and more on the curious case of inept.

August 2005

July's TOP TWENTY

July’s peloton of words whizzes by, and up at the front of the pack is … peloton. Just as it did last summer, the Tour de France leads to a tour du dictionnaire, or at least a tour of the entry for peloton.

Follow the rankings to see who dropped back and who moved up—and hear a few more thoughts about inept.

October 2005

September's TOP TWENTY

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the controversies that followed, refugee topped the list of most-frequently looked-up words by a wide margin. In fact, refugee had more look-ups than any other word has ever received in a one-month period. For more on refugee, see this month’s Word Profile.

The full list also includes levee and hurricane, as well as clear evidence that school is back in session.

November 2005

October's TOP TWENTY

Concerns about a future outbreak of avian flu propelled pandemic and epidemic to the top of the list of the most frequently looked up words on Merriam-Webster Online.  In fact, pandemic became one of those rare words (last month’s refugee was another) to be looked up more often than effect, the usual top-spot holder.

See the full list of October's Top Twenty to find out what other new words made the list, and which ones dropped off.

January 2006

December TOP TWENTY

Merriam-Webster’s announcement of its Words of the Year, issued at the beginning of December, had a major influence on the Top Twenty list, as site visitors were inspired to look the words up one more time. And this time, reality television came out on top.

See December's full list to find out what other Words of the Year made the list.

February 2006

January TOP TWENTY

Merriam-Webster’s Words of the Year, announced back in December continued to attract interest, as six of the Top Twenty spots went to Words of the Year. Of those, filibuster came in highest at No. 2, surely aided by ongoing discussion about the Alito nomination.

See January’s full list and find out what perennial member of the list is finally a no-show.

March 2006

February's TOP TWENTY

Six of the ten Words of the Year for 2005 continued to make the Top Twenty list in February. Among these, filibuster slipped from No. 2 to No. 10 position, while integrity moved back to No. 3 — once again the most looked-up word in the dictionary other than effect and affect. Also moving a few notches were insipid, inept, and contempt, while pandemic held steady at No. 9.

See February's full list and find out what comic strip had a notable effect on the list last month.

April 2006

March's TOP TWENTY

March's list looks much like February's but with a few subtle changes. Filibuster continued to move down the list, and fungible slipped off entirely. Meanwhile, agnostic and paradigm moved up to Nos. 13 and 16, respectively, and inept continued its climb from No. 16 in January to No. 8 this month.

See March's full list -- and take a look back at last March's list.

May 2006

April TOP TWENTY

Three longtime list stalwarts fell off the list this month—pandemic, contempt, and filibuster. The events that prompt look-ups of these words are none too pleasant, so we don't regret their passing. In their place, we welcome some returning words—esoteric and conundrum—and a new one, a conundrum in itself, aloof.

To see April's full list and our musing on aloof, click here.

June 2006

May TOP TWENTY

P-words seemed to prevail last month, as news stories about bird flu brought pandemic back onto the list, after its one-month absence, and another p-word, plethora, always a favorite with dictionary users, also reappeared. At the same time, i-words seemed imperiled, as inept and insipid, regulars on the list for most of the past year, slipped off.

And the mysterious aloof stayed on the list at Number 16. See May's full list and some of the explanations you offered for the rise of aloof on the list.

September 2006

Summer TOP TWENTY

This month's Top Twenty list reflects a summer's worth of list watching—June, July, and part of August. During that time, the list saw some exotic summer visitors, including promiscuous, google, and mouse potato. Read on to get the full story and see the entire list.

October 2006

September TOP TWENTY

September's Top Twenty list includes mostly old favorites, although the events in Thailand did manage to put coup in the No. 19 spot (see this month's Word Profile). And to the discerning eye, it was clear that school was back in session. Read on to get the full story and see the entire list.

November 2006

October TOP TWENTY

Once again, the Top Twenty is made up almost entirely of old favorites, and the top spots are held by the same four heavy-hitters: effect, affect, integrity, and metaphor. After a brief absence, google rejoins the list, and with memories fading that Thailand ever had such a thing, coup slipped off the list. Here's the entire list, and a look back at last October's Top Twenty.

January 2007

December TOP TWENTY

The list of the most frequently looked-up words at the Merriam-Webster Online Web site in December clearly shows the effect of our announcement of the Merriam-Webster Words of the Year for 2006 early in the month, but with a few twists. Here's the list.

February 2007

January TOP TWENTY

January's list of the most frequently looked-up words at the Merriam-Webster Online Web site has plenty of familiar faces at the top of the list, but a few new and returning visitors further down. See how this year got off to a fresh start.

March 2007

February TOP TWENTY

The list of the most frequently looked-up words at the Merriam-Webster Online Web site in February includes just about the same cast of characters as in January, but with a few changes in rank. See the ups and down and how Valentine's Day did have an effect.

April 2007

March TOP TWENTY

The list of the most frequently looked-up words at the Merriam-Webster Online Web site in March includes some new faces, including eclectic at No. 6 and conundrum at No. 9. See the entire list and find out who came and who went.

May 2007

April TOP TWENTY

There were some shake-ups in the list of the most frequently looked-up words at the Merriam-Webster Online Web site in April, as news events and controversies brought some new words to the list. See the entire list and what finally happened to google.

June 2007

May TOP TWENTY

After April's news-related shake-ups to the list of the most frequently looked-up words in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, matters settled back to normal in May. Google resumed its top spot, followed by effect and affect. See the entire list and this month's newcomers.

September 2007

Summer TOP TWENTY

Word.com resumes publication this month after its usual summer hiatus, and we are confronted with a new word as the most frequently looked-up word on Merriam-Webster Online over the summer months — awkward. And no, we don't why people are looking it up. But here is the rest of the list and some observations on other newcomers.

October 2007

September TOP TWENTY

As predicted last month, once school was back in session, metaphor returned to the list and, in fact, took over the top spot, edging out the usual leaders, effect and google. In a similar vein, hypothesis and paradigm rejoined the list, while awkward slipped a few spots. The rest of the list features a few other returnees and some notable departures.

November 2007

October TOP TWENTY

After being bumped by one word-of-the-month or another for the past year, effect finally regained the top spot in October. The No. 2 spot went to apathetic, and while it's tempting to say that we don't know why, we'll instead offer the rest of the list.

January 2008

December TOP TWENTY

The list of the most frequently looked-up words at the Merriam-Webster Online Web site in December clearly shows the effect of our announcement of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year for 2007 early in the month, but with a few twists. Here's the list.

February 2008

January TOP TWENTY

It shouldn't come as a surprise by now that the presidential primaries are making lots of people curious — and not just about the candidates, but about political language, too. Caucus shot all the way up to the most looked-up word for the month that began with Iowa's contest. We offer you more information about caucus in this month's Words in the News. Meanwhile, here's January's Top Twenty.

March 2008

February TOP TWENTY

Valentine's Day didn't pass unnoticed by users of Merriam-Webster's online dictionaries. Love jumped to the number three spot, edging out cantankerous and apathetic for at least the appearance of a victory for romance.

But the real story is that politic (and not politics) was the most looked-up word in February. Words from the presidential campaign that showed short flashes of interest this month include valedictory, denounce, and reject, and here's February's Top Twenty list.

April 2008

March TOP TWENTY

Correct usage seems to have been on the minds of many users of the Online Dictionary this month, since affect took the number one spot and its companion word effect made it up to fourth. Now that dictionary editors can see what words are actually being looked up on a daily basis, we are gratified that the efforts to discriminate usage and defining information made for these entries are relied upon by many. These words aren't looked up for spelling purposes.

As always, we see the words with classical origins and slightly abstract senses such as integrity, pragmatic, pugnacious, and ambiguous in the Top Twenty list. And the pseudo-classical conundrum is still there for good measure. Here's the full list for March.

May 2008

April TOP TWENTY

Although misogyny, polygamy, and elite were the news-derived terms most looked-up in April, none made the Top Twenty. A new word on the list is mature, which led us to notice how many of the words on the current list are overwhelmingly used to describe people. Here's the full list for April.

June 2008

May TOP TWENTY

One of the world's top news events in May brought the word cyclone to the number three spot this month. Several other news stories involved words that reflected spikes of interest through the course of the month, but none cracked the top twenty.

September 2008

Summer TOP TWENTY

Summer is the time we enjoy family trips, picnics, swimming, summer blockbusters, and a break from school. But language never takes a vacation, and several words stuck out this summer — enough to be looked up many thousands of times. Some words show spikes of interest for a few days and don't make the Top Twenty list, but they do reflect what people are thinking about, especially regarding news and politics.

October 2008

September TOP TWENTY

The political season may be winding down, but in September we saw plenty of evidence of it in the words being looked up online. Many of the words in this month's Top Twenty list are looked up regularly all year, but some clearly point to our users' acute interest in the presidential race.

November 2008

October TOP TWENTY

The month of October saw the frenzy of a historic presidential campaign and further developments of the financial crisis in America — and the return of a certain secret agent to the silver screen. Many words being looked up reflect the times and the news, as you can see in our list.

January 2009

December TOP TWENTY

While December was not without big and important news events, the Top Twenty list surprisingly had no news-related vocabulary. We might have anticipated Ponzi scheme to be looked up more frequently in a month with the news about the Madoff scandal. But with the election in the past, and the holidays and winter weather upon us, the most looked up words show an interest in what we see as typical words.

February 2009

January TOP TWENTY

Inauguration Day was January's big news event. Some words used to describe the ceremony were looked up more frequently than usual last month, but none broke into the Top Twenty. If combined, however, the verb inaugurate and the noun inauguration would have just squeaked in at number 19 (and would have landed at number one on Inauguration Day itself).

March 2009

February TOP TWENTY

The most remarkable thing about the Top Twenty list for February might just be what's not on it: the word love. Typically, Valentine's Day causes a burst of romantic curiosity about love. This year, it's clear that other things are on the minds of dictionary users. Take a look at the full list.

April 2009

March TOP TWENTY

The list for March includes many words we've seen in the Top Twenty for quite some time (ubiquitous, integrity, naïve). Some words from the political news of the month did emerge. For example, socialism continues to be a word used in discussions of everything from the bank bailouts to health-care reform. And with the legalization of same-sex marriage in Iowa and Vermont, we see marriage making the list. See the complete March Top Twenty.

May 2009

APRIL Top Twenty

The news of the swine flu outbreak caught the attention of dictionary users last month, as pandemic shot to the top of the list as the most looked-up word for April. Some old friends are on the list too, as well as a few others from the news. For example, even swine broke into April's Top Twenty.

June 2009

May TOP TWENTY

The passing of the swine flu from the headlines brings us a list with fewer news-related terms this month. The school year is ending, and we see many old friends in the lookup list from May — words that are looked up on a consistent basis that don't seem to connect with events of the day or school-related assignments.

September 2009

Summer TOP TWENTY

Summer has not exactly been uneventful for big news stories, but we see mostly familiar vocabulary terms in the aggregated summer list. The big exceptions are two words that were frequently looked up in the days following Michael Jackson’s death – one of which received the highest single-day count of lookups of any word this summer.

October 2009

September Top Twenty

An outburst during a presidential address in September caused much comment – and brought the word admonish to national prominence as the official term used in Congress for expressing displeasure at the behavior of a member. The term became the single most looked-up word for the month.

November 2009

October Top Twenty

The imminent release of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's book put rogue in the Top Twenty list for October; we discuss the word's history here. Otherwise, many familiar words make up the list this month. Spikes of interest for hoax following the "balloon boy" episode and humble after President Obama's reaction to the Nobel Prize weren't enough to put those words on the list.

January 2010

December Top Twenty

A blockbuster from Hollywood was also a vocabulary blockbuster for December: avatar was the most looked-up word in the Online Dictionary. Tiger Woods's use of the word transgressions made it the subject of nearly as much curiosity as the famous golfer's private life – probably because it was one of the few clues given to the public on the matter. The word prosperous was looked up with increasing frequency toward the end of the month, coming in at #1 on New Year's Day itself. Here's the full list.

February 2010

January Top TWENTY

January saw vocabulary curiosity sparked by the biggest movie ever (Avatar) and the most popular social networking Web site (Facebook). The word avatar was among the most looked-up words for the whole month, and Facebook's fun photo game of find-your-celebrity-lookalike brought doppelganger (it's the Word History topic of the month) into the top twenty.

March 2010

February Top Twenty

For the second month in a row, doppelganger has been the subject of curiosity – and this time it was the most looked-up word for the month. The word was part of a Facebook promotion; it's also one of those words that is fun to say and not encountered every day. Other words looked up this month were inspired by news stories or used by newsmakers.

April 2010

March Top Twenty

The return of healthcare to the front pages of newspapers made March a big month for research into socialism – the word is used so often in the context of contemporary American politics that it's becoming a regular in lists of most looked-up words.

But in every other way, this month's most looked-up word list is the very portrait of daily lexical curiosity: affect, effect, and love are there. Several other words that are slightly abstract and have classical roots, such as integrity, contingent, and eclectic, are nearly always near the top of the list. And words that end in -ous are, taken as a group, the most looked-up words in English: ubiquitous, pretentious, ambiguous, egregious, etc.

May 2010

April Top Twenty

The lexically curious ran to the dictionary to look up bigot and bigoted after (now) former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown – unaware that he was still wearing a news microphone – used the word to describe a British voter.

Socialism is still on the list – and its shadow fascism is not too far down, beyond the Top Twenty. Whenever one term is looked up, it seems, the other follows (this happens with other pairs of words that invite comparison, such as hurricane and tornado).

June 2010

May Top Twenty

The economic plight of Europeans was in the news in May, and the words austere and austerity were often used to identify measures (both official and unofficial) that must be taken in order to bring stability to the ailing Euro Zone. Otherwise, we see many familiar terms in this month's Top Twenty list, but interesting words made cameo appearances throughout the month of May.

September 2010

Summer Top Twenty

It was a long, hot summer – and one very rich in vocabulary! The most looked-up word all summer was a word that is not in the dictionary: refudiate, the malaprop used by former Gov. Sarah Palin on television and Twitter. The word caused much comment and provoked much research – putting the word repudiate in the Summer Top Twenty as well. Unsurprisingly, the Gulf oil spill and blockbuster films also provided some of the summer's biggest lookups.

October 2010

September Top Twenty

Back to school means back to the books – and back to the dictionary. The word culture is used in the names of many college courses, and in the descriptions of many more. Many students' fall classes introduce a field of study or represent the first step in a broader education, and culture is evidently an idea that inspires research. Beginning in early September, the word shot to the top to the daily lookup lists, becoming one of the most looked-up words for the month.

November 2010

October Top Twenty

Often it's easy to track the most looked-up words in a given month to a specific story or event. Bigot, this month's number two word, came from two different stories that dominated cable television news coverage of its favorite subject: itself. But the number one word this month may just reflect a broader national mood.

January 2011

December Top Twenty

The end of the year brought the announcement of the most looked-up words at Merriam-Webster.com, and the top words from that list, austerity and pragmatic, showed up in the Top Twenty for December. We also find some ubiquitous friends on the list, and a couple of interesting newcomers.

March 2011

February Top Twenty

The usual mix of old friends on the list, seasonal curiosity, and news-driven vocabulary gives us the top twenty most looked-up words for February. Pragmatic is no stranger to the list, but the word increasingly seems like a level-headed admonishment amidst political debates about budgets at every level of government these days. There are, big surprise, other references to politics and controversy this month as well.

And, of course, love makes its annual appearance during the month of Valentine's Day.

April 2011

March Top Twenty

This month saw a movie title take top honors as the most looked-up word. Even people who didn't go to see the new horror film Insidious looked the word up online – the movie provided a kind of public service for vocabulary. The words this month include familiar vocabulary searches, and a couple words from the news coverage of the tragic disasters in Japan.

May 2011

April Top Twenty

The excitement surrounding the wedding of the British couple now known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge did not seem to affect the April list of most looked-up words online. In fact, judging by the lookups on the final few days of the month, royal watchers looked away from the festivities only long enough to look up abbey (Westminster, where the wedding took place), mall (the wedding route – note the British pronunciation), and couture (custom-made fashions). None of these words made the month's Top Twenty, however.

June 2011

May Top Twenty

The April release of the film Insidious put that word at the top of the list last month – and it remains at the top in May, buoyed in part by talk of a sequel and the announcement of the DVD release. That's three months in a row for insidious – quite a vocabulary lesson from Hollywood!

September 2011

Summer Top Twenty

Big spikes for individual words in a given week during the summer did not lead to many enduring lookup trends. Words like batten (looked up during the week of Hurricane Irene), anarchy (because of rioting in the UK), chutzpah (Michele Bachmann's mispronunciation of the word drew attention), and coddle (Warren Buffet's word describing the tax code's treatment of the wealthiest Americans) came and went in the lookup logs – they didn't break into the Top Twenty.

What we do see, for the most part, are familiar words that are looked up on a daily basis and not news-driven words that come and go.

October 2011

September Top Twenty

The start of the new school year saw culture assume its traditional position among the September Top Twenty. This month also saw two other school-related look-ups, plagiarism and denominator, rise into the top 100. Among words that spiked during the month but didn't break into the Top Twenty, discretionary was the subject of curiosity during the House budget wrangling and clemency was looked up during the protests of the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia.

November 2011

October Top Twenty

October's words give us some insight into what the culture was thinking about – as well as an example of the Internet's power to trigger curiosity among a large number of people in a short period of time. Familiar words return to show that overall lexical curiosity changes very slowly, as we see pragmatic, paradigm, and ubiquitous in the Top Twenty. But there is an unusual explanation as to why vanilla was the most looked-up word for the month.

January 2012

December Top Twenty

Year's end saw mostly familiar words in the top positions this month, led by pragmatic, which was announced as Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year on December 15. This word got lots of attention as a consequence of that announcement, and zipped to the #1 spot. Ambivalence, our #2 word for the year, was also riding high, and finished third for the month.