Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

garble


Listen Later

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 24, 2025 is:

garble • \GAR-bul\  • verb

To garble something, such as a word, name, message, etc., is to cause it to be unclear or distorted. This type of garbling can be the result of an accident, ignorance, or a transmission error. Garble can also mean "to so alter or distort as to create a wrong impression or change the meaning."

// I was so nervous I garbled their names.

See the entry >

Examples:

"Noisy environments and interruptions garbled the audio or led to the services transcribing voices of people in the office who weren’t in our meeting." — Danielle Abril, The Washington Post, 17 Aug. 2023

Did you know?

Garble is a word with a spicy history, and we're not just saying that to curry favor with gastronomes. It is presumed that this word was passed from Arabic to Mediterranean Europe through trade in Eastern spices, and was first introduced into English from the Anglo-French verb garbeler, used for the action of sifting out impurities—such as dust, dirt, husks, etc.—from spices. In the 15th century, the English garble carried this same meaning as well as "to cull," i.e., to sort or pick out the best parts of something. If these origins seem curious given garble’s now more common meanings of "to so alter or distort as to create a wrong impression" and "to cause to be unclear or confusing; to introduce error into," consider that one way of garbling someone’s story is to take bits and pieces out of context.



...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Merriam-Webster's Word of the DayBy Merriam-Webster

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

1,229 ratings


More shows like Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

91,125 Listeners

Modern Love by The New York Times

Modern Love

8,851 Listeners

TED Radio Hour by NPR

TED Radio Hour

22,041 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

38,492 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,691 Listeners

TED Talks Daily by TED

TED Talks Daily

11,170 Listeners

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing by QuickAndDirtyTips.com

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

2,837 Listeners

Science Quickly by Scientific American

Science Quickly

1,383 Listeners

A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over by Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett. Produced by Stefanie Levine.

A Way with Words - language, linguistics, and callers from all over

2,292 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

16,205 Listeners

Life Kit by NPR

Life Kit

4,379 Listeners

Short Wave by NPR

Short Wave

6,420 Listeners

No Stupid Questions by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

No Stupid Questions

3,653 Listeners

Word Matters by Merriam-Webster, New England Public Media

Word Matters

485 Listeners

How to Be a Better Human by TED

How to Be a Better Human

1,389 Listeners