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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 15, 2025 is:
askance • \uh-SKANSS\ • adverb
Askance means "in a way that shows a lack of trust or approval" or "with a side-glance."
// I couldn't help but look askance at the dealer's assurances that the car had never been in an accident.
// Several people eyed them askance when they walked into the room.
Examples:
"In other cultures they might look askance at such a gnarly, leggy thing wedged into a loaf. But we know that a whole fried soft shell crab is one of the gifts of southeast Louisiana's robust seafood heritage." — Ian McNulty, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate Online, 1 May 2025
Did you know?
As with the similar word side-eye, writers over the years have used askance literally when someone is looking with a side-glance and figuratively when such a glance is conveying disapproval or distrust. Back in the days of Middle English you could use askaunce and a-skans and a-skaunces to mean “in such a way that,” “as if to say,” and “artificially, deceptively.” It’s likely that askance developed from these forms, with some help from asqwynt meaning “obliquely, askew.” Askance was first used in the 16th century with the meaning "sideways" or "with a sideways glance.”
