Factoid - plus, watch our latest Ask the Editor video

[Merriam-Webster]( WORD OF THE DAY [April 23, 2017](#none) factoid [Audio pronunciation]( noun | FAK-toyd Definition 1 : an invented fact believed to be true because of its appearance in print 2 : a briefly stated and usually trivial fact Scroll down for more about factoid WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE [Name that Thing: Flower Edition]( Can you correctly identify these flowers? [PLAY NOW]( Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try! [TAKE ME THERE [>]]( Plus: [SEE WHAT LOOKUPS ARE TRENDING NOW! [>]]( Did You Know? We can thank Norman Mailer for the word factoid; he coined the term in his 1973 book Marilyn, about Marilyn Monroe. In the book, Mailer explains that factoids are "facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper, creations which are not so much lies as a product to manipulate emotion in the Silent Majority." Mailer's use of the [-oid]( suffix (which traces back to the ancient Greek word eidos, meaning "appearance" or "form") follows in the pattern of [humanoid](: just as a humanoid appears to be human but is not, so a factoid appears to be factual but is not. Mailer likely did not appreciate the word's evolution. As current evidence demonstrates, it now most often refers to things that decidedly are facts, just not ones we tend to pay much attention to. [North American SCRABBLE Championship]( Examples of FACTOID Printed on the back of each baseball card is a chart showing the player's statistics along with one or two interesting factoids about his career. "Diana, the manager, took us through the intricacies of coffee roasting, providing us with interesting factoids such as that lava from the volcanoes results in excellent soil for coffee growing, and the darker the coffee bean, the less caffeine it has." — Patti Nickell, The Lexington (Kentucky) Herald Leader, 17 Feb. 2017 Test Your Vocabulary Fill in the blanks to complete a word for something that is falsely believed or propagated: _ e _ us _ _ n. [VIEW THE ANSWER [>]]( [North American SCRABBLE Championship]( ASK THE EDITOR The Serial Comma Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma? [WATCH OUR VIDEO NOW [>]]( MORE WORD FUN: [WORD GAMES [>]]( [TRENDING NOW [>]]( [WORDS AT PLAY [>]]( FOLLOW US: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( [Pinterest]( [North American SCRABBLE Championship]( SHARE: [Facebook][Facebook]( [Twitter][Twitter]( [View this email in a web browser]( You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day. [Unsubscribe from Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day]( [Manage your subscription settings]( Merriam-Webster, Inc. 47 Federal Street P.O. Box 281 Springfield, MA 01102 [www.merriam-webster.com](