1. (originally Canada, US, drama, film, television, theater) A type of drama (a film, play, television show, etc.) that combines elements of documentary and drama, to some extent showing real events and to some extent using actors performing recreations of documented events.

Today is World Press Freedom Day, which is recognized by the United Nations to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression. The Windhoek Declaration, a statement of press freedom principles by African newspaper journalists, was adopted on this day 35 years ago in 1991.

• About Word of the Day
• Nominate a word
• Leave feedback

1. The condition or state of being unleavened.
   1. Of bread, etc.: the state of not being raised with a leaven or raising agent such as yeast.
   2. (figurative) The condition or quality of being unaffected by something.
      1. The condition or quality of not being controlled or moderated by some characteristic, such as courtesy, tact, etc.; immoderation, unrestraint.
      2. (chiefly Christianity) The condition or quality or being unaffected by sin; purity, sinlessness.

At sunset today, the fifth day of Passover or Pesach in 2026 begins. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
In Western Christianity, it is Easter Sunday, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. According to 1 Corinthians 5:6–8 (NIV): “Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

• About Word of the Day
• Nominate a word
• Leave feedback

1. (archaeology) In pre-Islamic Turkic cultures, an anthropomorphic stone stele embedded in the ground at or near a kurgan (“type of prehistoric burial mound”); some are thought to symbolize enemies which a deceased warrior killed in their lifetime.

Today is the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development or Diversity Day, which is recognized by the United Nations to highlight the value of cultural diversity and the need for people to live together in harmony.

• About Word of the Day
• Nominate a word
• Leave feedback

1. (Egyptology) After the era of the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.

At sunset today, the eighth and last day of Passover or Pesach in 2026 ends. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

• About Word of the Day
• Nominate a word
• Leave feedback

1. (astronomy) Sunlight reflected from the Earth's surface, especially when visible on the part of the Moon's surface not illuminated by the Sun (the night side); earthlight.

Today is the International Day of Human Space Flight, which is recognized by the United Nations to celebrate the start of the space era, to reaffirm space science and technology’s contributions towards achieving sustainable development goals, and to emphasize the need to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes. It commemorates the first human space flight by the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, which took place on this day 65 years ago in 1961.
Yesterday, the four crew members of the Artemis II mission returned to Earth after a nine-day lunar flyby.

• About Word of the Day
• Nominate a word
• Leave feedback

1. (transitive)
   1. To sharpen (something, such as a knife or sword) by rubbing on an object, especially a whetstone; to hone.
   2. Of an animal such as a boar: to sharpen (its horns, teeth, tusks, etc.) by rubbing on a stone, etc., in preparation for an attack.
   3. (figurative)
      1. To make more keen or to stimulate (someone's appetite, interest, etc.); to hone, to sharpen.
      2. (obsolete) To encourage (someone) to do something; to incite, to urge.
      3. (obsolete) To inculcate or teach (habits, information, etc.).
      4. (obsolete, rare) Of a bird: to preen (its feathers).
2. (intransitive, figurative)
   1. To make more keen; to stimulate.
   2. To prepare for an attack.
   3. (obsolete) To consume drink or food as an appetizer.

whet n

1. An act of sharpening something by rubbing on an object, especially a whetstone.
2. (by extension, archaic except UK, dialectal)
   1. An occasion to do something; a go, a turn.
   2. A period of time between two sharpenings of a scythe.
3. (figurative)
   1. An item of drink or food consumed as an appetizer or to ward off hunger until a meal; specifically, a small amount of liquor drunk as an appetizer; a dram, a nip.
   2. A thing which makes one's desire, interest, etc., more keen; an incitement, an inducement.

• About Word of the Day
• Nominate a word
• Leave feedback

1. (idiomatic, informal) A short sleep, especially when taken during the day; a nap.

Today, the Friday before the March equinox, is World Sleep Day in 2026, an event organized by the World Sleep Society to highlight the benefits of healthy sleep and the burden of sleep problems, and to promote the prevention and management of sleep disorders.

• About Word of the Day
• Nominate a word
• Leave feedback

1. Synonym of transcendent (“surpassing usual limits; excelling; extraordinary”).
2. (philosophy)
   1. In the philosophy of Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.): synonym of transcendent (“transcending or extending beyond a single category”); also, synonym of metaphysical (“of or relating to the basic structure of reality”).
   2. In the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) or similar philosophies: concerned with the a priori or intuitive basis of knowledge, independent of experience.
   3. In the philosophy associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882): of or relating to transcendentalism (“a philosophy which stresses intuition and spirituality”).
   4. (by extension)
      1. Beyond one's ordinary experience; extraordinary.
      2. Existing in the imagination; abstract, conceptual.
      3. Mystical, superhuman, supernatural.
3. (mathematics)
   1. (algebra, field theory) Of an element of an extension field: not algebraic, that is, not the root of any polynomial that has positive degree and rational coefficients; also, of an extension field: that contains elements which are not algebraic.
   2. (number theory) Of a function or number: not algebraic.

transcendental n

1. A thing which is transcendental (all adjective senses).
   1. (Christian theology, metaphysics, philosophy (specifically Platonism), chiefly in the plural) Any one of the three transcendental properties of being, especially beauty, goodness, and truth—which are respectively the ideals of art, religion, and science, and thus the principal subjects of the study of aesthetics, ethics, and logic.
   2. (mathematics) An element of an extension field, an extension field, a function, or a number which is not algebraic.
2. (obsolete) Synonym of transcendentalist (“one who believes in transcendentalism; a philosopher who asserts that true knowledge is obtained by faculties of the mind that transcend sensory experience”).

Today is Pi Day, an annual celebration of the mathematical constant $\{\backslash displaystyle\; \backslash pi\; \}\pi$ (pi)—the date is often written 3/14, and the value of $\{\backslash displaystyle\; \backslash pi\; \}\pi$ is approximately 3.14… . Pi is a transcendental number.

• About Word of the Day
• Nominate a word
• Leave feedback

1. (uncountable) Constant and insistent demanding or proposing, especially if regarded as annoying or upsetting; also, the character of such behaviour; (countable) an instance of this.
2. (obsolete)
   1. (uncountable) The fact of being at an inappropriate or unsuitable time; unseasonableness.
   2. (uncountable) Persistence in behaviour; determination, perseverance, stubbornness.
   3. (uncountable) The quality of being annoying or troublesome; difficulty, trouble; (countable) an instance of this.

• About Word of the Day
• Nominate a word
• Leave feedback

1. (China, neologism) A lifestyle and social protest movement in China beginning in April 2021, which is a rejection of societal pressures to overwork.

Today is UN Chinese Language Day, one of six such days established by UNESCO to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity and to promote the equal use of its working languages. It is around the time of Guyu in the Chinese calendar, during which the legendary figure Cangjie, who is said to have invented Chinese characters, is celebrated.

• About Word of the Day
• Nominate a word
• Leave feedback

1. (literary, rhetorical question, informal) Used to emphasize that life or time passes quickly.

Today is World Environment Day, which is recognized by the United Nations to promote worldwide awareness of the need for action to protect the environment. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden, began on this day in 1972.

• About Word of the Day
• Nominate a word
• Leave feedback

1. (now chiefly Canada, US, often childish) Synonym of mother (“a female parent”).
   1. (figurative) Synonym of mother (“an origin, a source”).
   2. (obsolete) Used preceding a name as a title for a mother.
2. (LGBTQ slang) A lesbian partner.
3. (Caribbean, US (originally African-American Vernacular), informal) Used as a (respectful) term of address for a woman, especially an older one.
4. (chiefly US (originally African-American Vernacular), slang)
   1. A girlfriend.
   2. A wife. [...]

Today, the second Sunday of May in 2026, is celebrated in many countries as Mother’s Day. Anna Jarvis first held a memorial ceremony at the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, U.S.A. (now the International Mother’s Day Shrine) to honour her deceased mother and all mothers on Sunday, May 10, 1908.

• About Word of the Day
• Nominate a word
• Leave feedback