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It’s that time of year again, with Merriam-Webster unveiling its Word of the Year for 2018. On Monday, December 17, Merriam-Webster issued a press release to announce “justice” as this year’s top word. According to the release, “justice” received a 74 percent spike in lookups compared to the 2017 calendar year.
“The concept of justice was at the center of many of our national debates in the past year: racial justice, social justice, criminal justice, economic justice. In any conversation about these topics, the question of just what exactly we mean when we use the term justice is relevant, and part of the discussion,” the release stated. “This year’s news had many stories involving the division within the executive branch of government responsible for the enforcement of laws: the Department of Justice, sometimes referred to simply as ‘Justice.’ Of course, the Mueller investigation itself is constantly in the news, and is being carried out through the Justice Department.
“Another big news story included yet another meaning of the word justice, as a synonym or title for ‘judge,’ used frequently during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court.”
The 2017 Word of the Year was feminism, with “surreal” and “-ism” taking home the honors in 2016 and 2015, respectively.
“Justice has varied meanings that do a lot of work in the language—meanings that range from the technical and legal to the lofty and philosophical,” the announcement continued. “For many reasons and for many meanings, one thing’s for sure: justice has been on the minds of many people in 2018.”
Along with the Word of the Year, Merriam-Webster released the top 10 word look-ups of the year and there were some doozies. Check out the full list below.
Merriam-Webster Top 10 Look-Ups Of 2018
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- Nationalism
- Pansexual
- Lodestar
- Epiphany
- Feckless
- Laurel
- Pissant
- Respect
- Maverick
- Excelsior