Dictionary
Thesaurus
Medical
Scrabble®
Spanish Central
Games
Word of the Day
Video
Blog: Words at Play
My Faves
Word of the Year Archive

2005 Word of the Year

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year for 2005:

Click on each of the other words in the Top Ten List for their definitions in Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:

  1. refugee
  2. contempt
  3. filibuster
  4. insipid
  5. tsunami
  6. pandemic
  7. conclave
  8. levee
  9. inept

Media Contact

Word of the Year Archive

Test Your
Vocabulary!
Get Our Free Apps
Voice Search, Favorites, Word of the Day, & More
iPhone • iPad • Android
Join Us!
Get the Word of the Day and More
Facebook • Twitter
10 Charming Words for Nasty People
Put-downs with flair
Learn More
When "Literally" isn't, well, literal
How to use a word that (literally) drives some people nuts.
Watch Now
Know what this is?
Test your vocab with our fun, fast game
Go Play
Fear of cats?
Ailurophobia, and 9 other unusual fears
Learn More
Join Us
Merriam-Webster
on Facebook
Merriam-Webster
on Twitter
Bookstore: Digital and Print
Merriam-Webster references for Mobile, Kindle, print, and more.
See All
Other Merriam-Webster Dictionaries