diff --git a/scripts/wotd_polish_backfill.py b/scripts/wotd_polish_backfill.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da52656
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/wotd_polish_backfill.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+"""One-off: migrate the WOTD tables (gloss/usage) and backfill LLM polish for every
+pooled word that lacks it, then refresh today's pick from the now-polished pool.
+Run on the host with the LLM env sourced. Idempotent — safe to re-run."""
+import json
+import os
+
+from goodnews import wotd
+from goodnews.db import connect, init_db
+from goodnews.llm import LocalModelClient
+
+conn = connect(os.environ.get("GOODNEWS_DB", "data/goodnews.sqlite3"))
+init_db(conn)                       # idempotent migration: adds gloss/usage columns
+client = LocalModelClient.from_env()
+
+rows = conn.execute(
+    "SELECT id, word, part_of_speech, definition FROM wotd_pool WHERE gloss IS NULL OR gloss=''"
+).fetchall()
+print(f"pool words to polish: {len(rows)}")
+for r in rows:
+    p = wotd._polish(client, r["word"], r["part_of_speech"], r["definition"])
+    if p:
+        conn.execute("UPDATE wotd_pool SET gloss=?, usage=? WHERE id=?",
+                     (p["gloss"], json.dumps(p["examples"]), r["id"]))
+        print(f"  ✓ {r['word']}: {p['gloss']}")
+    else:
+        print(f"  – {r['word']}: polish unavailable, raw kept")
+conn.commit()
+
+picked = wotd.pick_daily(conn, force=True, client=client)   # today, from the polished pool
+print(f"\ntoday → {picked.get('word')}")
+print(f"  gloss: {picked.get('gloss')}")
+print(f"  usage: {picked.get('usage')}")
+conn.close()