Merriam-Webster names 'feminism' as its word of the year
Drumroll, please...
Merriam-Webster's word of the year is "feminism."
The online dictionary said the word of the year sheds light on topics that sparked the nation's interest and is chosen by measuring which words had a significant increase in lookups compared to years past. This year, the overwhelming winner was the word "feminism," which is defined as the “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activity in support of women’s rights and interests," according to Merriam-Webster.
Searches on Merriam-Webster.com for "feminism" spiked in January, 2017, during the Women's Marches held around the world, and again, when Kellyanne Conway said she didn’t consider herself a feminist in the "classic sense." And the lookups for feminism didn't stop there. Many looked up the term amid the #Metoo movement and as increasing allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct have taken over the news cycle.
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Peter Sokolowski, Editor at Large for Merriam-Webster, said in a statement that "no one word can encapsulate all the news, events, or stories of a given year."
“But when we look back at the past twelve months and combine an analysis of words that have been looked up much more frequently than during the previous year along with instances of intense spikes of interest because of news events, we see that one word stands out in both categories," Sokolowski said in a statement.
Other popular lookups include, dotard, which is an old-fashioned word that Kim Jong Un used to describe President Trump. Merriam-Webster said there were also lookups for gaffe after the Oscar Best Picture mix-up, and gyro after an SNL skit where Jimmy Fallon and country singer Luke Bryan sand “I Don’t Know How to Pronounce Gyro.”
