gust

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 30, 2025 is: gust \GUST\ noun Gust refers to a sudden strong wind. It is also used figuratively for a sudden outburst of something, such as a feeling. // Today’s weather will be windy, with gusts of up to 40 miles per hour. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gust) Examples: “This subversive comedy is now a posh [panto](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/panto), directed by Max Webster. It gets gusts of laughter but can feel rather forced, and the joyous language is left to fend for itself.” — Robert Gore-Langton, The Mail on Sunday (London), 8 Dec. 2024 Did you know? You’re no doubt familiar with the breezy gust meaning “a brief burst of wind.” But about a century and a half before that word first appeared in print in the late 16th century, a different gust blew onto the scene. The windy gust likely comes from a synonymous Old Norse word, gustr, whereas the older gust, which refers to the sensation of taste as well as to a feeling of enthusiastic delight, comes ultimately from gustus, the Latin word for “taste.” English speakers eventually mostly dropped that older gust, replacing it in the early 17th century with a similar gustus word borrowed from Italian: [gusto](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gusto) is now the go-to word when you want to refer to enthusiastic and vigorous enjoyment or appreciation. You can use it with gusto.