putative
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster
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🗓️ 16 March 2026
⏱️ 2 minutes
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Summary
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 16, 2026 is:
putative • \PYOO-tuh-tiv\ • adjective
Putative is a formal word used to describe something that is generally believed, supposed, or assumed to be something specified. It is always used before a noun.
// The group's putative leader was conspicuously absent from the meeting.
Examples:
"... the painting is swept up in questions of identity, provenance, authenticity and putative value." — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times, 31 Oct. 2025
Did you know?
There's no need to make assumptions about the root behind putative—we know it comes from a form of the Latin verb putare, which means "to consider" or "to think." Putative is a rather formal word that has been part of English since the 15th century. Like apparent, presumed, and ostensible, it leaves room for a smidgen of doubt: a putative ally will very probably be there for you, and a putative successor is very likely to be the next one in charge, but life offers no guarantees in either case.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the Word of the Day podcast for March 16th. |
| 0:10.0 | Today's word is putative, spelled PUTative, PUTative is an adjective. |
| 0:18.0 | It's a formal word used to describe something that is generally believed, |
| 0:23.6 | supposed, or assumed to be something specified. It's always used before a noun. Here's the word used in a |
| 0:31.6 | sentence from the New York Times. The painting is swept up in questions of identity, provenance, authenticity, and putative value. |
| 0:40.3 | There's no need to make assumptions about the root behind the word putative. |
| 0:46.3 | We know it comes from a form of the Latin verb putare, which means to consider or to think. |
| 0:52.3 | Puditive is a rather formal word that's been part of English since the |
| 0:56.6 | 15th century, like the words apparent, presumed, and ostensible. It leaves room for a smidgen of doubt. |
| 1:04.1 | A putative ally will very probably be there for you, and a putative successor is very likely to be the next one |
| 1:12.9 | in charge, but life offers no guarantees in either case. With your word of the day, I'm Peter |
| 1:19.1 | Sokolowski. |
| 1:24.5 | Visit Miriamwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups. |
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