A word of the day that doesn't suck
Languages and libraries
word of the day
SHOW HN2025
How HN took it
4 positive, 4 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 2 critical, out of 10 comments about the project. Thread score +0.17.
Idea: 1 for, 2 againstDesign: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Writing praised as good; commenters like the site's approach
From 1 comment
Ooh, I really like this. I have spent quite a while scrolling the page and internally going "yes! this guy gets it!" after reading a particularly good line. If you want feedback,…
johnfn on HN
Recommended as a source of usable words
From 1 comment
I've had Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day [1] feed on my RSS reader for a while and I think these are quite usable. [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/calendar
robertlutece on HN
Objections
Some commenters found the words too basic for well-read readers
From 2 comments
No cap, but the first ten-ish were already well known to me. Might be worth mentioning you're pitching below not-particularly-well-read this guy.
Y_Y on HNyes i too am really smart like this guy and this website is WAY below my reading level. Can somebody link me to the version for us smart guys?!
dankwizard on HN
Requests
Public API or RSS feed for the word of the day
From 1 comment
Is there a public API (or a plan for one)? I'd be interested to see each WOTD in my custom new tab page.
jsejcksn on HN
Include loan words and phrases
From 1 comment
I think it would be interesting to incorporate loan words or phrases. Often these words become loan words because there's no good English equivalents so loan words/phrases sort…
wnc3141 on HN
Pick words tied to recent news
From 1 comment
what would make a "word of the day" stream compelling to me would be a word that reflected recent news. William Safire did this to some extent in his weekly column in the NY…
fsckboy on HN
Questions
Is there a public API?
From 1 comment
Is there a public API (or a plan for one)? I'd be interested to see each WOTD in my custom new tab page.
jsejcksn on HN
Alternatives named
Merriam-Webster Word of the Day
From 1 comment
I've had Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day [1] feed on my RSS reader for a while and I think these are quite usable. [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/calendar
robertlutece on HN
Wordsmith.org word of the day
From 1 comment
https://wordsmith.org/words/today.html doesn't suck
xnx on HN
Etymonline and Webster's 1913 dictionary
From 1 comment
When it comes to getting a deeper understanding of words you already know, two of my favorite resources are Etymonline [1] and the 1913 edition of Webster’s dictionary [2]. And…
seabass on HN
NY Times Learning word of the day
From 1 comment
The NY Times still does this: https://www.nytimes.com/column/learning-word-of-the-day
xnx on HN