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Merriam-Webster Expertly Sums Up 2017 With Its Word Of The Year
No, it’s not “dotard” — although Kim Jong Un’s insult did make the top 10.
And Merriam-Webster’s word of the year is … “Feminism.”
The term enjoyed multiple lookup spikes on the dictionary’s website in 2017 and an overall 70 percent rise in its searches compared with 2016.
The Women’s March on Washington and other cities around the world the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January and the ongoing #MeToo movement against sexual harassment, bookended the 12 months.
2017 saw both a sustained rise in 'feminism' lookups and a number of event-driven spikes.
'Feminism' is our #WordOfTheYear. https://t.co/CrEhuZe7HB
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 12, 2017
Merriam-Webster defines feminism as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”
“Feminism” won out over other words that could have been inspired by the Trump administration, such as “complicit,” “recuse” and “dotard.”
“No one word can ever encapsulate all the news, events, or stories of a given year ― particularly a year with so much news and so many stories,” the dictionary said via a statement on its website.
“But when a single word is looked up in great volume, and also stands out as one associated with several different important stories, we can learn something about ourselves through the prism of vocabulary.”
The Women’s March, the release of “The Handmaid’s Tale” television series and the “Wonder Woman” movie and the #MeToo movement all contributed to the term’s …
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