Merriam Webster

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Merriam-Webster Chooses Its Word of the Year
Merriam-Webster
Chooses Its
Word of the Year
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Merriam-Webster Chooses Its Word of the Year

It's 'gaslighting'

(Newser) - “Gaslighting”—mind manipulating, grossly misleading, downright deceitful—is Merriam-Webster's word of the year, the AP reports. Lookups for the word on merriam-webster.com increased 1,740% in 2022 over the year before. But something else happened. There wasn't a single event that drove significant spikes in...

'Adorkable' Merriam-Webster 'Levels Up'

Dictionary adds 370 new words, including 'cringe' and 'dumbphone'

(Newser) - As you update your vocabulary, so does Merriam-Webster. The dictionary has added 370 new words and terms to its pages, noting that "when many people use a word in the same way, over a long enough period of time, that word becomes eligible for inclusion." There are several...

Woman Gets Dictionary to Redefine Racism

'It's not just "I don't like someone," it's a system of oppression for a certain group of people'

(Newser) - Merriam-Webster currently has, as its first listed definition of racism, "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race." A 22-year-old Missouri woman had a problem with that, and as a result,...

Word of the Year: Culture
 Word of the Year: Culture 

Word of the Year: Culture

Merriam-Webster unveils its choice for 2014

(Newser) - A nation, a workplace, an ethnicity, a passion, an outsized personality. The people who comprise these things, who fawn or rail against them, are behind Merriam-Webster's 2014 word of the year: culture. The word joins Oxford Dictionaries' "vape," a darling of the e-cigarette movement, and "exposure,...

Eat, Drink, Be Merry With Dictionary's Newest Adds

Invite a 'pescatarian' to your 'infinity pool'

(Newser) - The Merriam-Webster dictionary has added nearly 100 new words based on frequency of use in the American lexicon, the AP reports. "If somebody is using it to convey a specific idea and that idea is successfully conveyed in that word, it's ready to go in the dictionary," said...

Winning Word of 2007: 'W00t'
Winning Word of 2007: 'W00t'

Winning Word of 2007: 'W00t'

Merriam-Webster word of the year is gamer's victory cry

(Newser) - W00t is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year. The term is the victory cry of computer hackers and gamers, who also heatedly argue its origins. Merriam-Webster cites the explanation that gamers coined it as an alphanumeric acronym for “We Owned Other Team.” Contentious hackers claim it was code...

Merriam Makes Ginormous Addition
Merriam Makes Ginormous Addition

Merriam Makes Ginormous Addition

Main Entry: gi·nor·mous Function: adjective Etymology: gigantic + enormous Date: circa 1948 : extremely large : humongous

(Newser) - The word wranglers at Merriam-Webster have, after 49 long years, admitted 'ginormous' into the company's collegiate dictionary. Other newly approved words include crunk (southern rap music), and the abbreviations DVR and IED.  Also admitted to the class of 2007 were smackdowns, telenovas, gray literature, and microgreen.   Look...

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