Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year – surreal

Dec. 29, 2016 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD – There are many year-end best-of pronouncements and lists but for lovers of language there is only one that counts: the Words of the Year as declared by Merriam-Webster.

Based on the number of times people have looked up a word on the dictionary publisher’s website and a year-to-year increase in look-ups, the editors at Merriam-Webster have named “surreal” as the Word of the Year.

Editor in Chief Peter Sokolowski explained to Reminder Publications that “surreal’ was used to describe the coup attempt in Turkey and the terrorist attack in Nice and especially following the presidential election results in November.

“Spikes of interest in a word are usually triggered by a single event, so what’s truly remarkable this year about ‘surreal’ is that so many different stories led people to look it up. Historically, ‘surreal’ has been one of the words most searched after tragedy, most notably in the days following 9/11, but it was associated with a wide variety of stories this year.”

Sokolowski admitted that he wasn’t surprised by the selection as he has been watching the data of what words are looked up since 2002 and that many common words are subjects of dictionary searches on the website. He noted among the top words for which people sought definitions this year included “culture” and “love.”

People looked up “paparazzi” when Princess Diana died and asked for the meaning of emaciated when Michael Jackson died. Sokolowski said the context of the word in question can often trigger a search for its meaning, even if it considered commonplace.

He noted that common words could be abstract in their meaning. A word such as “cow” describes a definite idea, but try “integrity” or “pragmatic.” They are much more difficult to define.

Sokolowski said there is “no question” that big news stories drive people to the dictionary’s website and the year “many were election related.”

Just look at “bigly.” Sokolowski noted this word was prominent in searches, despite the fact it was never actually used. President-elect Donald Trump used the phrase “big league” in a presidential debate but the way he spoke it sounded like “bigly.”    

“Deplorable” was also a subject of a spike, but Sokolowski explained that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a noun out of an adjective by making it plural.

Other prominent words include “revenant” from the Leonard DiCaprio movie of the same name. Searches for “icon” were spurred by musician Prince’s death.

People interested in word trends can follow them themselves thanks to a feature on the Merriam-Webster website (www.merriam-webster.com) homepage tracks words being looked up.

Sokolowski said for November the number one word was “fascism.”

For all of the words of 2016, go to www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/woty2016-top-looked-up-words-surreal.

Share this: