A demagogue is a leader who gains power by appealing to emotions, fears, and prejudices, rather than reason or truth. This ...

Word of the day: FATTER Pronunciation: fet·ter UK/ ˈfet.ər/ and US /ˈfet̬.ɚ/ As a noun, 'fetter' means a chain or shackle ...

Word meanings can shift radically, just like pronunciation. Called semantic change, a shift in a word's meaning occurs when frequent misuse becomes standard, or when metaphoric use becomes literal.

Use 'semantic gradients' to turn vocabulary study into a shared thinking activity that explores the subtle differences ...

Thanks to the evolution of language, technology, and lots of hyperbole, these words used to convey a lot more merit, emotion, or simply seriousness than they do nowadays. Ah, “genius.” Once reserved ...

Wordplay that involves changing one letter in a given word to produce a different legitimate word can be traced to Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece puzzle called the doublet. For example, given the initial ...