Oct 29, 2025

On Nov. 18th, Merriam-Webster is releasing their 12th edition Collegiate Dictionary, calling it their own “large language model.” Greg Barlow, president of Merriam-Webster says AI can’t do what they do: “AI gives definitions, we write the definitions.”

Merriam-Webster has expanded beyond printing dictionaries. In the past 12 months, their website has had over 1 billion visits, according to president Greg Barlow.

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On Nov. 18, Merriam-Webster will be releasing the 12th edition of its iconic Collegiate Dictionary, its first new release in over 20 years.

In its announcement on social media, the reference book company took a shot at its biggest competitor: artificial intelligence.

“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Merriam-Webster president Greg Barlow about how the company has remained relevant in the digital age, and why he isn’t so worried about artificial intelligence. Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.

**Kai Ryssdal: **Would you do me a favor and tell me what your company does?

**Greg Barlow: **Sure. Merriam Webster creates definitions.

**Ryssdal: **That’s way less than five words, which is my go-to for CEOs, when I ask them what they do. Here’s the follow up question. We are 20-ish years into the internet and online life, and nobody actually having a dictionary on their desk anymore, how are you running your business here in 2025?

**Barlow: **It’s actually a little bit of a misconception. We actually sold about 1.5 million dictionaries in the last year. And the year before, we sold about 1.5 million dictionaries. But your point is well taken, of course, the print dictionary is a pretty small part of our business. It’s quite important to us, but the business is by far online. Just in the last 12 months, we had about 1.2 billion visits to Merriam-Webster.com, and that’s really what our business is based on.

**Ryssdal: **Let me go back to the beginning for a second and ask you about your business and definitions. I’m not telling you what your job is, but your job, fundamentally, is language, right?

**Barlow: **Absolutely, definitions, synonyms, but also language as a as an industry. We have millions and millions, hundreds of millions, of sessions to our website every year for people who are playing language-based games, word games or people who are reading our language-based newsletters, and really, people who are learning language through articles. We publish things like, ‘why irregardless is actually a word.’

**Ryssdal: **Wait, no, is it really?

**Barlow: **Yeah, ‘irregardless’ has been a word for decades, and it’s actually a word for the same reason every word is a word, which is people use it. People think that Merriam-Webster prescribes definitions to people, but that’s not what we do. We’re a descriptive organization. We chronicle language of how it’s used, and if people use irregardless to mean regardless, millions and millions, if not hundreds of millions, of times over decades and decades, well, our job is to make sure that it’s chronicled in the book, so everybody knows what everybody needs.

**Ryssdal: **Are you a word and language guy from way back? Is this kind of the dream job for you?

**Barlow: **The answer is yes and no. It is absolutely a dream job of mine, but no, I did not have a language background. I came up through the business world. I worked at The Wall Street Journal for years on the business side, and then I spent a few years in private equity. And about 15 years ago, 2009, I joined Merriam-Webster and Britannica as our chief marketing officer. (I then) left the company. And about four years ago, I reconnected with the management team and the owners and I got back.

Ryssdal: I do have to ask you about the current rage in language now, which is, of course, large language models and artificial intelligence. Where is that on the scale of monsters under your bed, in terms of a threat to your business?

**Barlow: **It’s something we think about. Absolutely, AI can offer a lot to a lot of different companies. And it can offer us a lot as well. There’s also a threat to lots of companies. Which is, ‘can AI replace my business?’ Now, to the dictionary, it’s not much of a threat. And the reason is, AI is amazing, It’s amazing in all sorts of ways, but we know it can’t always be trusted, and Merriam-Webster can be. And of course, when it comes to words and what they mean and how they’re understood, the definition really needs to be perfect. And remember, AI tries to figure out what the definition is. Well, at Merriam-Webster, we actually write the definition. We create it, invent it, so it can’t be wrong. Like you, like everyone, we all have that anxiety of writing a text where maybe the word is wrong, maybe it’s spelled wrong or am I using this one right. You really don’t want to mess something up, especially when the answer is on Merriam-Webster.com. So, it’s not much of a threat to us, especially given all of our other business lines.

**Ryssdal: **So last thing, and then I’ll let you go. In say 10-ish years, are you still going to be selling 1.5 million dictionaries a year do you think?

**Barlow: **Man, I hope so. Again, I hope so. And that’s coming from, and I mean this, it’s coming from my heart. It’s an insignificant portion of our revenue, absolutely, but people love the book. They like to feel it; they like browsing. They love the thumb notches, and they love seeing it on their bookshelf. If you asked me 10 years ago, would I hope that we’re still printing and selling 1.5 million dictionaries? 10 years later, I would have said, ‘Absolutely,’ and I’m going to stick with that story.

**Ryssdal: **Now, somewhere in my house, I have the dictionary my parents gave me when I graduated from high school. So I hear you.

**Barlow: **I think it’s time to buy a new one. The new edition coming out. The first new edition in almost 20 years, and it’s wonderful.

**Ryssdal: **I will go looking.