Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 12, 2025 is:
 
 
 
 
 waggish &#149; \WAG-ish\&nbsp; &#149; adjective
 Waggish describes someone who is silly and playful, and especially someone who displays a mischievous sense of humor. The word can also describe things that such a person might do or possess. 

// He had a waggish disposition that could irk adults but typically delighted children.

// She denied the prank but did so with a waggish smirk that didn't match her disavowal.

<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/waggish">See the entry ></a> 
 
 
 
 Examples:
 “[Patricia] Lockwood began her writing life quietly, as a poet. She found her first major audience on Twitter, posting self-proclaimed ‘absurdities’ ... that quickly came to define the medium’s zany, waggish ethos ...” — Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025 
 
 
 
 Did you know?
 One who is waggish acts like a wag. What, then, is a wag? It has nothing to do with a dog’s tail; in this case a wag is a clever person prone to joking. Though light-hearted in its use and meaning, the probable source of this particular <a href="https://bit.ly/3WUgRqV">wag</a> is grim: it is thought to be short for waghalter, an obsolete English word that translates as <a href="https://bit.ly/3LINC82">gallows bird</a>, a gallows bird being someone thought to be deserving of hanging (wag being the familiar <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wag">wag</a> having to do with movement, and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/halter">halter</a> referring to a noose). Despite its gloomy origins, waggish is now often associated with humor and playfulness—a wag is a joker, and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/waggery">waggery</a> is merriment or practical joking. Waggish can describe the prank itself as well as the prankster type; the <a href="https://bit.ly/49Qqmis">class clown</a> might be said to have a “waggish disposition” or be prone to “waggish antics.”

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