Springfield, MA, Dec. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Merriam-Webster, the dictionary publisher helping millions of people understand and use language better, has announced its Word of the Year for 2018. The selection is entirely data driven: the word must be frequently looked up at Merriam-Webster.com and must show a significant increase in lookups over the previous year. The top word, and its runners-up, shed light on topics and ideas that sparked the nation’s interest in 2018.
The Word of the Year for 2018 is justice, with lookups of the word trending higher all year long as well as spiking at different points over the course of the year. News stories involving the Justice Department have been common, and the concept of justice has been at the center of many national debates in 2018—from social justice to criminal justice. But very specific uses of the word also drove curiosity this year, as seen with the spike in lookups of obstruction of justice in August, when President Trump tweeted his wish for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to stop the Mueller investigation.
“It’s often familiar words for abstract concepts that are among the most looked up words,” explains Emily Brewster, Associate Editor and Editorial Ambassador for Merriam-Webster. “When common words like justice are used in contexts that are very specific, technical, or legal, people look them up in the dictionary for the detail and nuance that a definition can provide. For many reasons and for many meanings, one thing’s for sure: justice has been on the minds of many people in 2018.”
Gallery: Get more detail on all the 2018 Words of the Year
Other top lookups include lodestar, an uncommon word used in the anonymous New York Times op-ed written by an insider in the Trump administration. The word is defined as “one that serves as an inspiration, model, or guide.”
Entertainment and pop culture inspired people to go to the dictionary too. The word epiphany saw a large spike in lookups when it was featured as the title of a song by the K-Pop group BTS, and pansexual was a top lookup after singer Janelle Monáe was quoted in Rolling Stone magazine self-identifying with the term.
Video: See Peter Sokolowski talk about the Word of the Year
Words that spiked in lookups following the deaths of prominent Americans included maverick for John McCain, excelsior for Stan Lee, and respect for Aretha Franklin.
“Looking at the year through the prism of vocabulary by analyzing our lookup data often draws attention to a word or an idea that has been on people’s minds, reminding us that words matter,” adds Peter Sokolowski, Editor at Large for Merriam-Webster. “Through the dictionary, we can make these connections with words that tell us something about our culture, our language, and ourselves.”
See the full list of Merriam-Webster’s Words of the Year here.
About Merriam-Webster Inc.
For 180 years, in print and digital media, Merriam-Webster has been America’s leading and most-trusted provider of language information. Each month, our websites and apps offer guidance to tens of millions of visitors. In print, our publications include Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary (among the best-selling books in American history) and newly published dictionaries for English-language learners. All Merriam-Webster products and services are backed by the largest team of professional dictionary editors and writers in America, and one of the largest in the world.
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