paragon
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster
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🗓️ 11 May 2026
⏱️ 2 minutes
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Summary
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 11, 2026 is:
paragon • \PAIR-uh-gahn\ • noun
Paragon is a formal word that refers to a person or thing that is perfect or excellent in some way and should be considered a model or example to be copied.
// In Arthurian legend, Sir Galahad is depicted as a paragon of virtue.
Examples:
"With a bar staff locally renowned for its cocktails, curated French cuisine, an extensive champagne menu and immaculately stylish atmosphere ... Claude is the local paragon of elegance." — Elijah Decious, The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), 18 Feb. 2026
Did you know?
Paragon comes from the Old Italian word paragone, which literally means "touchstone." A touchstone is a black stone that was formerly used to judge the purity of gold or silver. The metal was rubbed on the stone and the color of the streak it left indicated its quality. In modern English, both touchstone and paragon have come to signify a standard against which something should be judged. Ultimately, paragon comes from the Greek verb parakonan, meaning "to sharpen," from the prefix para- ("alongside of") and akonē, meaning "whetstone."
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the word of the day for May 11th. |
| 0:09.0 | Today's word is Paragon, spelled P-A-R-A-G-O-N. Paragon is a noun. |
| 0:18.0 | It's a formal word that refers to a person or thing that is perfect or |
| 0:22.9 | excellent in some way and should be considered a model or example to be copied. Here's the word |
| 0:28.8 | used in a sentence from the Gazette of Cedar Rapids. With a bar staff locally renowned for |
| 0:35.3 | its cocktails, curated French cuisine, an extensive champagne |
| 0:39.1 | menu, and immaculately stylish atmosphere, clode is the local paragon of elegance. Paragon comes from |
| 0:48.3 | the old Italian word Paragon, which literally means touchstone. A touchstone is a black stone that was formerly used to |
| 0:57.5 | judge the purity of gold or silver. The metal was rubbed on the stone and the color of the streak it |
| 1:04.3 | left indicated its quality. In modern English, both touchstone and Paragon have come to signify a standard against which something should be judged. |
| 1:14.9 | Ultimately, Paragon comes from the Greek verb Paraconan, meaning to sharpen, from the prefix para, meaning alongside of, and Akone, meaning wetstone. |
| 1:26.7 | With your word of the day,'m peter sokoloski visit miriam webster |
| 1:33.8 | com today for definitions wordplay and trending word lookups |
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