Everyone wants a magnificent mouthful of vocabulary. Whether you’re mellowing out (with word games like Scrabble or Words with Friends) or mouthing off into a megaphone, knowing more words makes you mighty. Manage your image; throw some M-words into the mix. M is the 13th letter of the alphabet, but it makes a memorable start for many momentous words! So, if you have a mind to master English vocabulary, memorize the meanings of a few words that start with the letter M.
We’ve created this list of words for you, organized by the number of letters in each word. Many of these words have more than one meaning. For simplicity, we’ve only listed one definition for each word. Keep in mind, this word list doesn’t contain every single English word that starts with M; however, it’s a useful introduction to this very special letter.
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macerate – Verb | To cause to waste away or become emaciated
mackinaw – Noun | A heavy woolen coat
maculate – Adjective | Stained, blotched
7-Letter Words
macaque – Noun | Any of a genus of Asian monkey, especially the rhesus monkey
machzor – Noun | A Hebrew prayer book for festivals (also spelled mahzor)
maffick – Verb | To celebrate without restraint
marquee – Noun | A canopy or signage projecting over a building entrance
6-Letter Words
madcap – Adjective | Marked by recklessness and impulsiveness
madder – Noun | The strong red color resulting from a natural Eurasian dye
mayhem – Noun | Willful violence and disorder
mohawk – Noun | A hairstyle with shaved sides and an upright center strip
5-Letter Words
maars – Noun | Circular volcanic craters
mabes – Noun | Spherical pearls used for jewelry
macaw – Noun | Parrots from South and Central America
mafic – Adjective | Pertaining to dark-colored minerals
4-Letter Words
magi – Noun | Sorcerers
maim – Verb | To cause injury, disfigurement
malm – Noun | Chalky limestone
maxi – Adjective | A long dress or coat
3-Letter Words
maw – Noun | Throat, jaws, or stomach
mew – Noun | Stable with built-on living quarters
mho – Noun | A unit of conductance
moa – Noun | Flightless New Zealand bird, now extinct
moc – Noun | Moccasin, shoe made of soft leather
mow – Verb | To cut grass or other turf
mun- Abbreviation | Municipal
mut – Noun | A mongrel dog (also spelled mutt)
2-Letter Words
ma – Noun | Mother
me – Pronoun | The objective case of the word I
mu – Noun | The 12th letter of the Greek alphabet
my – Adjective | Pertaining to me or myself
By looking at this list, you may be able to identify some common prefixes. Words that start with “macro” often reference something large or long. Words beginning with “micro” involve something small. Understanding these linguistic patterns can help you to intuit what a word means, even when you don’t have a dictionary handy.
Use words that start with the letter M to make memories and amuse mere mortals. If you manage to mumble multiple messages, you may mesmerize mankind with your mythic musings. No word finder will mess with your marvelous mastery of the English language. From my to macrophotograph, you’ll be armed with the right M-word for manifold moments.
I’m an award-winning playwright with a penchant for wordplay. After earning a perfect score on the Writing SAT, I worked my way through Brown University by moonlighting as a Kaplan Test Prep tutor. I received a BA with honors in Literary Arts (Playwriting)—which gave me the opportunity to study under Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel. In my previous roles as new media producer with Rosetta Stone, director of marketing for global ventures with The Juilliard School, and vice president of digital strategy with Up & Coming Media, I helped develop the voice for international brands. From my home office in Maui, Hawaii, I currently work on freelance and ghostwriting projects.
