Every year, dictionaries around the globe pick their word of the year. Merriam Webster dictionary’s word of the year is quite fitting for the times. The winner, which is determined by the most frequently searched word on the site, is ‘surreal’
Analysts follow search trends and spikes to keep track of frequently searched words. Apparently, ‘surreal’ peaked on the day of the Brussel’s Airport bombings. It received increased traffic following more terrorist attacks that year, and big election results.
The general trend observed was that people look up the word following tragedies, most likely because of the preponderance of its usage in the media.
In second place, we have ‘fascism’, no doubt caused by news sources commenting on Donald Trump’s authoritarian tendencies.
Featured image courtesy of NY Daily News.