So what word would be the most searched for 2022?
After a 1,740% surge in searches, ‘gaslighting’ has been named the word of 2022 by dictionary Merriam-Webster.
There was not a single event which drove spikes in the curiosity of the term, which usually happens when there is a new word of the year.
Merriam-Webster’s top definition for gaslighting is the psychological manipulation of a person, usually over an extended period of time, that “causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one’s emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.”
Top 10 words for 2022 according to Merriam-Webster:
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-Gaslighting
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‘Oligarch,’ driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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‘Omicron,’ the persistent COVID-19 variant and the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet.
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‘Codify,’ as in turning abortion rights into federal law.
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‘Queen consort,’ what King Charles´ wife, Camilla is newly known as.
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‘Raid,’ as in the search of former President Donald Trump´s Mar-a-Lago home.
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‘Sentient,’ with lookups brought on by Google canning the engineer who claimed an unreleased AI system had become sentient.
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‘Cancel culture,’ enough said.
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‘LGBTQIA,’ for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual, aromantic or agender.
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‘Loamy,’ which many Wordle users tried back in August, though the right word that day was ‘clown.’
