Dotard, gaffe, syzygy, and 6 more of the top 10 lookups in 2017 ‘Feminism’, on December 12, was announced as the Merriam–Webster’s word of the year for 2017 for being the top lookup word throughout the year. According to its website, ‘Feminism’ showed a 70% increase over 2016 and also saw several spikes in lookups that corresponded to various news reports and events during the year. Starting from Women's March on Washington, DC and other related marches across the world to most recent campaign on sexual harassment which witnessed numbers of women coming forward to share their stories with journalists or joining #MeToo hashtag on social media, the word was searched. Interest in the dictionary definition of feminism, this year, was also driven by entertainment which increased after the release of both Hulu’s series ‘The Handmaid's Tale’ and the Wonder Woman film. Feminism, according to Merriam-Webster’s definition is “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests.” It first entered in the dictionary by Noah Webster in 1841 with the definition “the qualities of females.” Surreal was Merriam-Webster’s word of the year in 2016. The word is defined as “unbelievable, fantastic” or “marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream.” The Word of the Year is a quantitative measure of interest in a particular word. Merriam-Webster described itself as America’s leading and most-trusted provider of language information, for more than 150 years, “in print and now online” with more than 40 million monthly visitors. The other top 9 Complicit: Declared as the word of the year of its competitor Dictionary.com last week, complicit was also a top lookup throughout the year. Complicit means “helping to commit a crime or do wrong in some way.” ' Recuse: Recuse means “to disqualify (oneself) as judge in a particular case” and “to remove (oneself) from participation to avoid a conflict of interest.” Empathy: “The ability to share another person’s feelings.” Dotard: An old-fashioned word was made new again in September when the Korean Central News Agency released comments from North Korean president Kim Jong Un that called Donald Trump "a mentally deranged U.S. dotard." Dotard (pronounced /DOH-terd/) saw a 35,000% increase in lookups from last year. It means "a person in his or her dotage" (dotage is "a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness"), and initially had the meaning "imbecile" when it began being used in the 14th century. Federalism: The distribution of power in an organization (such as a government) between a central authority and the constituent units.” Hurricane: "A tropical cyclone with winds of 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour or greater that occurs especially in the western Atlantic, that is usually accompanied by rain, thunder, and lightning, and that sometimes moves into temperate latitudes." Gaffe: Gaffe is defined as "a noticeable mistake” saw a huge spike in lookups this year starting in February, following a surprising and awkward moment at the climax of the 2017 Academy Awards when the award for Best Picture was erroneously announced for the film "La La Land." Later, it became clear that the presenters had been given the wrong envelope real winner, "Moonlight," was announced to a completely baffled audience. Syzygy (/SIZ-uh-jee/): “The nearly straight-line configuration of three celestial bodies (such as the sun, moon, and earth during a solar or lunar eclipse) in a gravitational system." The word comes from the Greek syzygos, meaning "yoked together." Gyro: A sandwich especially of lamb and beef, tomato, onion, and yogurt sauce on pita bread.
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