Merriam-Webster Adds 850 Words Including ‘Glamping’ And A Made-Up Word From ‘The Simpsons’

Fox

Merriam-Webster added 850 words to the dictionary on Monday including “cryptocurrency,” “blockchain,” “glamping,” “dumpster fire,” “mansplain,” and “embiggen” on Monday. You are probably familiar with the first five words, but you might not be familiar with the word “embiggen” unless you are a Simpsons fan. That is because it is a made-up word from a 22-year-old Simpsons episode.

The fake word first appeared on February 18, 1996, during The Simpsons seventh season in the episode titled “Lisa the Iconoclast.” The children are watching an educational video of the first settlers of Springfield and how Young Jebediah Springfield founded the city. “A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man,” Jebediah proclaims as he founds the city.

Merriam-Webster defines “embiggen” as “to make bigger or more expansive,” and adds that the transitive verb should be used as “informal” and “humorous.” Embiggen used in a sentence: “There are many painters who rely on computers as a tool or arbitrary gimmick, but the recent striated abstract paintings of Linda Day translate digital structures into painting language in a seamless way that embiggens both.” Sadly, the word “cromulent” did not make the dictionary despite being a perfectly cromulent word. Now we just need to get the word “Kwyjibo” into the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Kwyjibo: Noun – A big, dumb, balding North American ape with no chin and a short temper.