umbrage
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster
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🗓️ 13 January 2026
⏱️ 2 minutes
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Summary
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 13, 2026 is:
umbrage • \UM-brij\ • noun
Umbrage refers to a feeling of being offended by what someone has said or done. It is often used in the phrase “take umbrage.”
// Some listeners took umbrage at the podcaster’s remarks about the event.
Examples:
“The one item on offer was considered to be so good that the chef took umbrage at being asked for mustard.” — The Irish Times, 31 Oct. 2025
Did you know?
Umbrage is a word born in the shadows. Its ultimate source (and that of umbrella) is Latin umbra, meaning “shade, shadow,” and when it was first used in the 15th century it referred to exactly that. But figurative use followed relatively quickly. Shakespeare wrote of Hamlet that “his semblable is his mirror, and who else would trace him, his umbrage, nothing more,” and by the 17th century this meaning of “vague suggestion; hint,” had been joined by other uses, including the “feeling of resentment or offense” heard today in such sentences as “many took umbrage at the speaker’s tasteless jokes.” The word’s early literal use is not often encountered, though it does live on in literature: for example, in her 1849 novel, Charlotte Brontë describes how the titular Shirley would relax “at the foot of some tree of friendly umbrage.”
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the word of the day for January 13th. |
| 0:11.8 | Today's word is umbrage spelled U-M-B-R-A-G-E. |
| 0:17.3 | Umbridge is a noun. |
| 0:18.9 | It refers to a feeling of being offended by what someone has said or done. |
| 0:23.8 | It's often used in the phrase, take umbrage. |
| 0:27.1 | Here's the word used in a sentence from the Irish Times. |
| 0:30.9 | The one item on offer was considered to be so good that the chef took umbrage at being asked for mustard. |
| 0:41.5 | Umbrage is a word born in the shadows. |
| 0:49.1 | Its ultimate source, and that of umbrella, is the Latin umbra, meaning shade or shadow. And when it was first used in the 15th century, it referred to exactly that. But figurative use followed relatively quickly. |
| 0:56.4 | Shakespeare wrote of Hamlet that his semblable is his mirror, and who else would trace him, |
| 1:02.3 | his umbrage, nothing more. And by the 17th century, this meaning of vague suggestion or hint, |
| 1:09.3 | had been joined by other uses, including the feeling of resentment |
| 1:13.1 | or offense heard today in such sentences as many took umbrage at the speaker's tasteless jokes. |
| 1:20.7 | The words early literal use is not often encountered, though it does live on in literature. |
| 1:25.7 | For example, in her 1849 novel, Charlotte Bronte, |
| 1:30.0 | describes how the titular Shirley would relax at the foot of some tree of friendly umbrage. With your |
| 1:37.3 | word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. |
| 1:43.6 | Visit Miriamwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups. |
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