Dictionary.com has officially chosen its 2022 word of the year: “Woman.”
It’s difficult to pick just one word to sum up a year, but according to the dictionary website, “Woman” is a word that’s “that’s inseparable from the story of 2022.”
From the overturning of Roe v. Wade to the protests in Iran, woman have been in the spotlight during major world events this year.
The definition of the word itself has also been put under the spotlight.
“This year, the very matter of the definition of the word ‘woman’ was at the center of so many consequential moments, discussions, and decisions in our society,” John Kelly, Dictionary.com’s senior director of editorial, said according to CNN.
Searches for the definition of “woman,” which Dictionary.com defines as “an adult female person,” spiked this year, resulting in double the usual search volume for the word, according to a news release.
The biggest spike occurred in March when Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was asked to define the word “woman,” at her confirmation hearing.
According to Dictionary.com, “It was a rare case of not just a word in the spotlight, but a definition.”
Dictionary.com’s word of the year short list
Dictionary.com’s other candidates for the 2022 word of the year include “Ukraine flag emoji,” “inflation,” “quiet quitting,” “democracy” and “Wordle.”
Previous Dictionary.com words of the year
Below is a list of Dictionary.com’s picks for the word of year since 2010:
- 2021: “Allyship.”
- 2020: “Pandemic.”
- 2019: “Existential.”
- 2018: “Misinformation.”
- 2017: “Complicit.”
- 2016: “Xenophobia.”
- 2015: “Identity.”
- 2014: “Exposure.”
- 2013: “Privacy.”
- 2012: “Bluster.”
- 2011: “Tergiversate.”
- 2010: “Change.”