wherewithal

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster

Arts, Literature, Language Courses, Education

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2025

⏱️ 2 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 23, 2025 is:

wherewithal • \WAIR-wih-thawl\ • noun

Wherewithal refers to the means, skills, resources, or money that is needed to get or do something.

// The company does not have the financial wherewithal to expand into other markets at this time.

See the entry >

Examples:

"... it is heartening to know that there are people of real influence who have the will and wherewithal to help lift the city out of the doldrums." — Scott Wright, The Herald (Scotland), 15 May 2025

Did you know?

If wherewithal sounds like three words smashed together, that’s because it is—sort of. Wherewithal combines where and withal, an adverb from Middle English that is itself a combination of with and all. In the past, wherewithal was used as a conjunction meaning "with or by means of which" and as a pronoun meaning "that with or by which." Today, however, it is almost always used as a noun to refer to the means or resources a person or entity has at their disposal. It refers especially to financial resources, but other means such as social influence, ability, and emotional capacity may also be termed as "wherewithal."

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It's the Word of the Day podcast for June 23rd.
0:12.0	Today's word is wherewithal, spelled as one word, W-H-E-R-E-W-I-T-H-H-A-L.
0:22.6	Wherewith-all is a noun. It refers to the means, skills, resources, or money that is needed to get or do something.
0:28.6	Here's the word used.
0:29.6	And a sentence from the Herald of Scotland.
0:32.6	It is heartening to know that there are people of real influence who have the will and wherewithal to help lift
0:38.8	the city out of the doldrums. If the word wherewithal sounds like three words smashed together,
0:45.9	that's because it is, sort of. Wherewithal combines where and withal, an adverb from Middle
0:53.0	English that is itself a combination of with and all.
0:56.9	In the past, wherewithal was used as a conjunction, meaning with or by means of which,
1:02.8	and as a pronoun meaning that with or by which.
1:06.5	Today, however, it is almost always used as a noun to refer to the means or resources a person or entity has at their disposal.
1:15.3	It refers especially to financial resources, but other means, such as social influence, ability and emotional capacity, may also be termed as wherewithal.
1:26.2	With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.
1:34.1	Visit Miriamwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups.

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 26 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Merriam-Webster, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Merriam-Webster and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.