You Can Say “myriad”
Take a look at this photo above. Would you say there are countless dirty rubber ducks? Or do you see a lot of dirty ducks? Until recently, I would have avoided this question altogether, calling it something less controversial, like a bunch of old ducks. The first use has always struck me as pretentious, but I have seen enough resentment about the latter to suggest that it is grammatically incorrect.
Well, the English language is full of many surprises, and this whimsical-sounding word is no exception. Benjamin Dreyer, vice president and executive managing editor at Random House and author of Dreyer’s book, The English: A Perfect Guide to Clarity and Style , is here to get us clear :
The word “myriad” can be used as an adjective or a noun. You can say that you have many objections to Dreyer’s point of view, or you can say that you have many objections to her. Both are valid (unless he’s right).
The belief that a more correct or cleaner use of the word is to use it only as an adjective is categorically incorrect, says Merriam-Webster :
Recent criticism of the use of myriad as a noun in both the plural myriads and a myriads seems to reflect the misconception that the word was originally and still is only an adjective. However, as can be seen from the entries cited here, the noun is actually an older form, dating back to the 16th century. The noun innumerable has appeared in the writings of authors such as Milton (plural myriad) and Thoreau (myriad), and it still occurs frequently in respected English. There is no reason to avoid this.
If MW sees no reason to avoid it, you shouldn’t do it either.