Merriam-Webster, the storied American dictionary publisher based in Springfield, has unveiled a sweeping update to its flagship Collegiate Dictionary, marking the first comprehensive hard-copy revision in over two decades. The Twelfth Edition, weighing in at nearly five pounds and sporting a deep red cover with thumb notches, will hit shelves on November 18, 2025, and is already available for pre-order. The announcement, made on September 25, 2025, has stirred excitement among language enthusiasts, educators, and those who simply love the tactile pleasure of flipping through a hefty reference book.
This latest edition is not just a cosmetic refresh. Merriam-Webster has added more than 5,000 new words and phrases, reflecting the rapidly evolving nature of English in the 21st century. Among the additions are “rizz” (meaning romantic appeal or charm), “dad bod,” “cold brew,” “farm-to-table,” and “hard pass.” The dictionary also embraces words and phrases that have gained traction through internet culture and contemporary life, such as “adulting,” “cancel culture,” “ghost kitchen,” and “WFH” (work from home). According to the Associated Press, “dumbphone” and “teraflop” now have a place in the lexicon, the former describing basic cell phones that predate the smartphone era, and the latter representing a unit for measuring computer speed.
Not to be overlooked are entries like “beast mode,” “dashcam,” “doomscroll,” “side-eye,” “influencer,” and “photobomb.” Even “petrichor,” the pleasant scent that follows a rain shower, has found its way into the pages—a word that, for many, perfectly captures a familiar yet previously unnamed sensory experience. Merriam-Webster’s president, Greg Barlow, explained to The Associated Press, “We wanted to make the ‘Collegiate’ more useful, a better design, more interesting. We wanted it to be more rewarding to browse, more fun to look through, and to really be practical for research, but also a beautiful book.”
To accommodate this influx of new content, Merriam-Webster made some tough editorial decisions. The company removed two sections from the previous (11th) edition that contained sparse biographical and geographical entries. Barlow noted that people rarely turn to dictionaries for this kind of information anymore, preferring to consult the internet for the location of Kalamazoo (a city in southwest Michigan, for the curious) or the biography of Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. “For that, they reach for the internet,” Barlow remarked. The dictionary also dropped some obscure or antiquated words, including “enwheel,” meaning encircle, to make room for the new.
The Twelfth Edition doesn’t just add words; it also offers more than 20,000 new usage examples and enhanced entries for the most frequently searched terms. For the first time, the print edition introduces curated word lists—think “Words From the 1990s” and “Words for Things That Often Go Unnamed”—and includes expanded word histories. The classic line drawings that have long been a hallmark of Merriam-Webster’s style remain, adding visual charm and clarity to select entries. And for the dictionary devotees who appreciate the little details, the book preserves its lettered thumb notches, those handy finger-sized dents that make browsing easier. Due to the closure of the only American printer capable of producing these notches, the company had to look to India for this specialized touch, as reported by The Independent.
While the digital age has transformed how people access definitions, Merriam-Webster’s print dictionaries still find an audience. Barlow acknowledged that “while the print dictionary is not at all important to the growth and profitability of this wonderful language company, it’s still our heart.” He added, “There are people out there who just love books, and we love books.” According to Merriam-Webster, the company sells about 1.5 million dictionaries a year, though print sales now account for only a small fraction of the company’s revenue. The real action is online: the Merriam-Webster website receives about a billion visits annually, and over the last decade, digital revenue has grown by nearly 500 percent, fueled by the popularity of its online dictionary, thesaurus, mobile apps, and word games.
The rise of the internet has certainly changed the dictionary business. As Grant Barrett, a lexicographer and co-host of public radio’s “A Way with Words,” told USA Today, “Now we’re in this weird limbo where people want the dictionary but they don’t want to pay for it, because they’re used to getting things for free on the internet.” Despite this, there is still a nostalgic and practical appeal to the printed dictionary. Kat Sarfas, marketing manager for nonfiction at Barnes & Noble, observed, “I do think there is that nostalgia that people have to be able to pull a dictionary off the shelf and look up a word. There’s a certain desire to have these kinds of reference materials at home. It may be something that people feel like, as educated people, we should own.”
Sales of adult reference books, including dictionaries and atlases, have generally declined in the U.S. since 2022, according to Circana BookScan, which tracks a large portion of the print market. In the 12 months ending September 6, 2025, dictionary sales fell by 9 percent compared to the previous year. Still, Barnes & Noble has reported a bit of a rebound in dictionary sales this year, suggesting that the printed word isn’t quite ready for the dustbin of history just yet.
For some, print dictionaries serve purposes beyond mere definitions. Lindsay Rose Russell, executive director of the Dictionary Society of North America, pointed out that print dictionaries can help preserve languages, especially those of Indigenous communities that have historically been suppressed or undocumented. “Having a print dictionary has all along sort of indicated the legitimacy of a language,” Russell said. Others use the dictionary as a source of inspiration or even meditation, opening it at random to discover new words and ideas. And sometimes, as in the case of the Commodores’ trumpet player William King, a dictionary can even help a band find its name—he famously found “Commodores” while running his finger down a page, narrowly avoiding “The Commodes.”
Merriam-Webster’s Twelfth Edition of the Collegiate Dictionary is designed for students, professionals, and word lovers alike, promising to be as much a pleasure to browse as it is a practical research tool. Its release not only marks a milestone in the publisher’s long history but also stands as a testament to the enduring power of language—and the books that celebrate it—even in a digital age.
