Words of the Year

An archive of all Words of the Year, runners-up, retrospectives, and behind the scenes videos.

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Word of the Year 2022 | Gaslighting

Our Word of the Year 'gaslighting,' plus 8 more

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Word of the Year 2021 | Vaccine

Our Word of the Year 'vaccine,' plus 10 more

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2020 Words of the Year Quiz

Test your knowledge of the words of the year.

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Word of the Year 2020 | Pandemic

Pandemic was 2020's word of the year—be sure to check out the 2021 Word of the Year

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Words of the Year Decade in Review

Let’s take a look at a decade in words.

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2019 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

How we chose 'they'

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'They' Is Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year 2019

Take a deeper dive on our 2019 pick

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Word of the Year 2019 | They

Our Word of the Year 'they,' plus 10 more

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2018 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

How we chose 'justice'

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Word of the Year 2018

'Justice' is our 2018 Word of the Year

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Word of the Year 2018 | Justice

Our Word of the Year justice, plus 10 more

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Word of the Year 2017 - Feminism

Our Word of the Year feminism, plus 9 more

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Word of the Year 2017

'Feminism' is our 2017 Word of the Year

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2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

How we chose 'feminism'

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Word of the Year 2016 Gallery - Surreal

Our top lookups of 2016

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2016 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

How we chose 'surreal'

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Word of the Year 2016

'Surreal' is our 2016 Word of the Year

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Word of the Year 2015

What were the top looked-up words in 2015?

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Word of the Year 2015 Gallery

The events that drove the top look-ups in 2015.

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2015 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Peter Sokolowski talks about the year's selections

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Word of the Year Retrospective

Editors Choose Their Favorite Words from the Past Decade

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2014 Word of the Year: Culture

Here's What this Year's Top Look-ups Say About Us

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2014 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

The inside scoop behind our 2014 Word of the Year selections.

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Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of lachrymose

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