Merriam-Webster’s Most Mispronounced Words of 2022
The following is a list of the most requested audio pronunciations of words at Merriam-Webster.com in 2022. It was compiled exclusively for The Inquirer by Peter Sokolowski, editor at large at Merriam-Webster, where he works on the Word of the Day podcast and Ask the Editor videos. More than a billion words a year are looked up at the M-W Dictionary website and apps, according to Sokolowski. The words below are listed in order of the number of requests, which MW does not disclose.
LAN·yap
NITCH, or NEESH, or NISH
Bonus or extra gift.
Place, employment, status, or activity for
which a person or thing is best fitted; also,
a recess in a wall for a statue.
YEE·ro (rolled r)
A Greek sandwich.
hi·JEH·muh·nee
Control by one country, organization, etc.
over other countries, etc. within a particular
group.
EH·puhk
A period of time in history or a person’s life.
maa·kee·uh-VEH·lee·uhn
laar·ZHES, or lar·JES
Sly, deceptive, distrusting, and manipulative.
The act or quality of being generous with
money; money that you give to people who
have less than you.
PRAA·suh·dee
The patterns of sounds and rhythms in
poetry; the study of this.
SHAA·duhn·froy·duh (from German)
A feeling of pleasure at the bad things
that happen to other people.
NAY·snt
Coming or having recently come
into existence.
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Merriam-Webster’s Most
Mispronounced Words of 2022
The following is a list of the most requested audio pronunciations of words at Merriam-Webster.com in 2022. It was compiled exclusively for The Inquirer by Peter Sokolowski, editor at large at Merriam-Webster, where he works on the Word of the Day podcast and Ask the Editor videos. More than a billion words a year are looked up at the M-W Dictionary website and apps, according to Sokolowski. The words below are listed in order of the number of requests, which MW does not disclose.
LAN·yap
Bonus or extra gift.
YEE·ro (rolled r)
A Greek sandwich.
EH·puhk
A period of time in history or a person’s life.
maa·kee·uh-VEH·lee·uhn
Sly, deceptive, distrusting, and manipulative.
PRAA·suh·dee
The patterns of sounds and rhythms in poetry;
the study of this.
NAY·snt
Coming or having recently come into existence.
NITCH, or NEESH, or NISH
Place, employment, status, or activity for which
a person or thing is best fitted; also, a recess in
a wall for a statue.
hi·JEH·muh·nee
Control by one country, organization, etc. over
other countries, etc. within a particular group.
laar·ZHES, or lar·JES
The act or quality of being generous with money;
money that you give to people who have less
than you.
SHAA·duhn·froy·duh (from German)
A feeling of pleasure at the bad things that
happen to other people.
Staff Graphic
