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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 2, 2026 is:
fawn \FAWN\ verb
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day — fawn. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
0:00It's the word of the day for April 2nd. Today's word is fawn, spelled F-A-W-N, fawn is a verb to fawn over or on someone, usually someone important or powerful, is to try to get their approval through praise, special attention, or flattery. One is also sometimes used, especially but not exclusively of dogs, to mean to show affection. Here's the word used in a sentence from the Sydney Morning Herald. Around my pattington patch, my rag doll cat, runny the magnificent, is a street celebrity, a magnet for residents and passers-by to fawn over and photograph. Which lovers rejoice. If you're the sort of person who fawns over etymology, one of the best sorts of people in
1:00our opinion, then you'll be glad to know the story of the word fawn. It comes ultimately from the old English adjective Foggan or Faggan, meaning glad, by way of the old English verb Fagnan, meaning to rejoice. Hooray, but we're not finished yet. Note that this fawn is not, despite appearances, related to the noun fawn that refers to a young deer. For that, we can thank the Latin noun Fetus, meaning offspring. With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. Visit marionwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups.
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