Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 28, 2024 is: ne plus ultra  \nay-plus-UL-truh\ noun  
Ne plus ultra refers to the highest point of development or success that something may achieve; it is a synonym of [acme](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acme).

// The company’s latest electric car is being hailed as the ne plus ultra of automotive achievement.

[See the entry >](https://bit.ly/3SaBGvF)
  
  
Examples:
  
"Vanilla is earthy. It’s ethereal. It’s exotic. It’s indispensable in some recipes and, when added to others on a whim, seems essential. … The ne plus ultra of flavoring." — Dorie Greenspan, Food52.com, 25 Feb. 2022  
  
Did you know?  
   
It is the height, the zenith, the ultimate, the crown, the pinnacle. It is the peak, the summit, the crest, the high-water mark. All these expressions, of course, mean "the highest point attainable." But ne plus ultra may top them all when it comes to expressing in a sophisticated way that something is the [pink](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pink) of perfection. It is said that the term's predecessor, non plus ultra, was inscribed on the [Pillars of Heracles](https://www.britannica.com/place/Pillars-of-Heracles) at the [Strait of Gibraltar](https://www.britannica.com/place/Strait-of-Gibraltar), which marked the western end of the classical world. The phrase served as a warning: "(Let there) not (be) more (sailing) beyond." The New Latin version ne plus ultra, meaning "(go) no more beyond," found its way into English in the early 1600s.

ne plus ultra

Free daily dose of word power from Merriam-Webster's experts

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

K-12

Educational Technology

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 23, 2024 is: panoply  \PAN-uh-plee\ noun  
Panoply is a formal word that refers to a group or collection that is impressive either because of its size or because it includes so many different kinds of people or things.

// The new website offers shoppers a panoply of snack foods, soft drinks, and other treats from around the world. 

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/panoply)
  
  
Examples:
  
“Given that all of us, in our daily lives, are constantly confronted by a limitless confusion of knowledge … one can say that all of us are being educated all the while, and that education is in its essence the business of any transmission of knowledge from one party to another. … No part of this vast panoply of knowledge diffusion is more important for the future of human society than that which passes in one direction, downward across the generations, from the older members of a society to the younger.” — Simon Winchester, Knowing What We Know, 2023  
  
Did you know?  
   
Despite having Greek origins and similar sounds, panoply is not related—etymologically or [semantically](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/semantic)—to [monopoly](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monopoly); its history has more to do with Mediterranean warfare than Mediterranean Avenue. Panoply comes from the Greek word panoplia, which referred to the full suit of armor worn by [hoplites](https://www.britannica.com/topic/hoplite), heavily armed infantry soldiers of ancient Greece. Panoplia is a blend of the prefix pan-, meaning “all,” and hopla, meaning “arms” or “armor.” (As you may have guessed, hopla is also an ancestor of [hoplite](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoplite).) Panoply entered English in the early 17th century with its Greek use intact: it referred to a full set of armor—an impressive array, you might say, of protective [bits and bobs](https://bit.ly/3PMr0ml), from breastplates to [brassards](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brassard). Over time, panoply developed its figurative sense referring to an impressive, extensive collection or array of things, as in “She won the game by bankrupting her opponents with a panoply of properties built up with houses and hotels.”

panoply

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 22, 2024 is: belie  \bih-LYE\ verb  
To belie something is to give a false idea or impression of it. Belie can also mean "to show (something) to be false or wrong."

// Martin's easy banter and relaxed attitude belied his nervousness.

// Their actions belie their claim of innocence.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/belie)  
  
Examples:
  
"But his humble presence belies the adventurous life that brought him through World War II and multiple attempts at sailing around the world." — Alejandra Garcia, The Sacramento (California) Bee, 21 Dec. 2020  
  
Did you know?  
   
"What is a lie?" asks [Lord Byron](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lord-Byron-poet) in Don Juan. He then answers himself: "'Tis but the truth in masquerade...." The history of belie illustrates a certain connection between lying and masquerading as something other than one is. In Old English, belie meant "to deceive by lying," but in time, it came to mean "to tell lies about," taking on a sense similar to that of the modern word [slander](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slander). Eventually, its meaning softened, shifting from an act of outright lying to one of mere misrepresentation; by the 1700s, the word was being used in the sense "to disguise or conceal." Nowadays, belie is typically applied when someone or something gives an impression that is in disagreement with the facts, rather than in contexts where there is an intentional [untruth](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/untruth). A happy face put on to set others at ease, for example, may belie an internal disgruntlement.

belie

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 21, 2024 is: neophyte  \NEE-uh-fyte\ noun  
A neophyte is a person who has just started learning or doing something.

// As an acting neophyte, Femi took a while to adjust to his newfound Hollywood fame. 

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neophyte)
  
  
Examples:
  
"First premiering in 2006, Ugly Betty … built up a devoted fanbase. The series, which is now streaming on Netflix, starred Ferrera as the titular 'Ugly' Betty Suarez, a braces-wearing 22-year-old fashion neophyte from Queens."  — Alec Bojalad, Den of Geek, 4 Aug. 2023  
  
Did you know?  
   
Neophyte is hardly a new addition to the English language—it's been part of the English vocabulary since the 14th century. It traces back through Late Latin to the Greek word neophytos, meaning "newly planted" or "newly converted." These Greek and Latin roots were directly transplanted into the early English uses of neophyte, which first referred to a person newly converted to a religion or cause. By the 1600s, neophyte had gained a more general sense of "a beginner or novice." Today you might consider it a formal elder sibling of such recent informal coinages as [newbie](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/newbie) and [noob](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/noob).

neophyte

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 20, 2024 is: futile  \FYOO-tul\ adjective  
An effort, action, or emotion described as futile has no result or effect, and therefore serves no useful purpose.  

// City officials attempted to stifle the scandal, but their efforts were futile.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/futile)  
  
Examples:
  
“... when resolve is wearing thin and hope feels futile, sometimes the only thing left to do is laugh.” — Cassidy George, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2023  
  
Did you know?  
   
Attempts to pinpoint the first use of the phrase “resistance is futile” may ultimately be futile—that is, pointless or [in vain](https://bit.ly/4aQiNpo)—but that hasn’t stopped folks from trying. Popular in movies and television series from Star Trek to Stargate, Veronica Mars to Napoleon Dynamite, the slogan is often uttered by an [antagonist](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antagonist) who wants to make it clear in no uncertain terms that they will be the one to prevail in the onscreen struggle. Some people point to a 1976 episode of [Doctor Who](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Doctor-Who) in which a character called The Master says “Resistance is futile now,” while others prefer the quote without the now, holding up a 1977 episode of Space: 1999 as being the first to feature it. However, author Randall Garrett had both shows beat in his 1961 short story “The Highest Treason,” in which a character says “Not if they … can prove that resistance is futile.” Despite its clear importance to futuristic science fiction, however, the word futile has ancient roots. It comes from the Latin adjective fūtilis/futtilis, which was used to describe things that are brittle or fragile and, by extension, serve no purpose. These meanings survive in the English word futile, which denotes ineffectiveness.

futile

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 19, 2024 is: sequester  \sih-KWESS-ter\ verb  
To sequester a person or group is to keep them separate or apart from other people. Sequester is also often used to mean “to bind or absorb (carbon dioxide) as part of a larger chemical process or compound.”

// The jury was sequestered until a verdict was reached.

[See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sequester)
  
  
Examples:
  
“When sea otters were reintroduced to an Alaskan island, they … led to the return of offshore kelp. As well as harboring hundreds of biodiverse species, these towering algal forests also sequester carbon.” — Lucy Cooke, Scientific American, 1 Nov. 2023  
  
Did you know?  
   
Sequester is a word that has important legal and scientific uses, and a long history besides. In fact, it can be traced back to the Latin [preposition](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preposition) secus, meaning, well, “beside” or “alongside.” Setting someone or something apart (figuratively “to the side”) from the rest is sequester’s [raison d’être](https://bit.ly/3IYU5XM). We frequently hear it in the context of the courtroom, as juries are sometimes sequestered for the safety of their members or to prevent the influence of outside sources on a verdict. It is also possible, legally speaking, to sequester property—sequester can mean both “to seize” and “to deposit” property by a [writ](https://bit.ly/4a7pqDL) of [sequestration](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sequestration). The scientific sense of sequester most often encountered these days has to do with the binding or absorption of [carbon](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carbon). [Kelp](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kelp) forests, for example, sequester massive amounts of carbon dioxide during [photosynthesis](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/photosynthesis), keeping it “apart” from the atmosphere—by some estimates doing so twenty times as much as terrestrial forests. You might even say kelp’s got this sequestering thing locked up.

ne plus ultra

Download our free app to listen on your phone