Macquarie Dictionary

Macquarie Dictionary Australia's National Dictionary

Word of the Year: https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2024/

The Macquarie Dictionary was first published in print in 1981 and has been online since 2003. Its reputation has gone from strength to strength and it is now nationally and internationally regarded as the standard reference on Australian English. The Macquarie Dictionary features:

* easy, comprehensive and interactive searching
* annual updates of words, definitions and encyclopedic entries
* re

gionalisms from around Australia
* etymologies of words and phrases
* extensive usage notes
* loads of extra features

photometer: an instrument for measuring the intensity of light or the relative illuminating power of different lights....
30/09/2025

photometer: an instrument for measuring the intensity of light or the relative illuminating power of different lights.

hydromancy: divination by means of water.
25/09/2025

hydromancy: divination by means of water.

koan: a problem or riddle, often involving a paradox, which admits of no solution but which is used in Zen meditation ...
16/09/2025

koan: a problem or riddle, often involving a paradox, which admits of no solution but which is used in Zen meditation to expand the mind.

dolabriform: shaped like an axe or a cleaver.
09/09/2025

dolabriform: shaped like an axe or a cleaver.

Last month we covered some pretty heavy topics so this month we’re talking about some of the more lighthearted concepts ...
08/09/2025

Last month we covered some pretty heavy topics so this month we’re talking about some of the more lighthearted concepts that have lexicalised over the last few years. Lexicalisation is the process by which new words enter the language, and one of the most common ways for this to happen in English is through compounding. That is, two existing words get stuck together and form a unit whose meaning cannot be described as a simple sum of its parts. The words in this list should serve as good examples, some of which may be considered for word of the year!

butyraceous: of the nature of, resembling, or containing butter.
19/08/2025

butyraceous: of the nature of, resembling, or containing butter.

19/08/2025

monocarpellary: consisting of a single carpel.

requiescat: a wish or prayer for the repose of the dead.
18/08/2025

requiescat: a wish or prayer for the repose of the dead.

This month, we’ve compiled a list of new terms which all fit in the theme of ways we talk about our negative emotions an...
18/08/2025

This month, we’ve compiled a list of new terms which all fit in the theme of ways we talk about our negative emotions and relationships. Whether you’re fed up with being controlled by your almond mum, right in the thick of your Sunday scaries, dealing with grief brain through conversations with a deadbot, or need to crash out on your favourite social media platform, it’s worth reflecting on cultural creativity that continually updates the inventory of terms which we use to classify and understand our emotions. If we decide that one of these precisely captures the mood of 2025, it might end up as our Word of the Year.

17/08/2025

centesimal: hundredth; relating to division into hundredths.

16/08/2025

deglutinate: to extract the gluten from.

15/08/2025

jubilate: the 100th Psalm (99th in the Vulgate), used as a canticle in the Anglican liturgy.

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