rash

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 14, 2026 is: rash • RASH  • adjective Rash describes something done or made quickly and without thought about what will happen as a result. It can also describe someone who is doing something rash. // I later regretted having made such a rash promise in a moment of chaos. // Don't be rash about this decision. Take your time. See the entry > Examples: “The climactic scenes toy with the blurred lines between hallucination and reality, but the logic falls apart; threads like Hana’s rash decision to undertake a dangerous surgical fix virtually evaporate without much payoff.” — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Feb. 2026 Did you know? Is it possible that the origins of the noun rash (referring to a group of red spots on the skin that is caused by an illness or a reaction to something) and the adjective rash (meaning “overly hasty”) are the same? Not so fast! Like many homonyms—“two or more words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning”—the two rashes have distinct sources. The noun rash, which first appeared in English in the late 17th century, probably comes ultimately from the Latin verb rādere, meaning “to scrape, scratch, shave.” The adjective rash appears to be about two centuries older, and comes from a Middle English word rasch meaning “active, quick, eager.”