As we previously told you, Dictionary.com recently chose “Misinformation” as the word of the year, while Oxford chose “Toxic,” but it seems Merriam-Webster has a different opinion.
The company has chosen “Justice” as 2018’s Word of The Year, which has been used in various forms over the past year, including racial justice, obstruction of justice, social justice and more. To earn the title of word of the year, a word needs to see high volume of traffic and a significant increase in lookups throughout the year.
Merriam-Webster editor at large Peter Sokolowski notes that “justice” has been in the top 20 or 30 lookups throughout the year, and went even higher during specific events, many of which surrounded President Donald Trump. As for just how popular the word has gotten, searches for “Justice” increased 74% this year as compared to last.
- And “Justice” isn’t the only word to see an increase in lookups this year. Other popular words include “maverick,” in connection to Senator John McCain death, “excelsior,” when Stan Lee died, “respect” when Aretha Franklin died, “feckless,” after Samantha Bee used the word in her description of Ivanka Trump, and “lodestar,” which was used in a “New York Times" op-ed.
Source: Yahoo