Merriam-Webster’s word of the year 2024 has been announced

The results of the 2024 US presidential election rocked the country and sent shockwaves around the world — or cause for celebration, depending on who you ask. Is it any wonder then that the Merriam-Webster word of the year is “polarization”?

“Polarization means division, but it’s a very specific kind of division,” Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor-at-large, said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press before Monday’s announcement. “Polarisation means we are moving towards the extremes rather than the centre”.

The election was so divisive that many American voters went to the polls feeling that the opposing candidate was an existential threat to the nation.

According to AP VoteCast, a poll of more than 120,000 voters, about 8 in 10 Kamala Harris voters were very or somewhat concerned that Donald Trump’s views — but not Harris’s — were too extreme, while about 7 in 10 Trump voters were felt the same way about Harris — but not Trump.

The Merriam-Webster entry for “polarization” reflects scientific and metaphorical definitions. It is most often used to mean “causing strong disagreements between opposing factions or groups.”

Merriam-Webster, which records 100 million page views per month on its site, selects the word of the year based on data, tracking an increase in search and usage.

Last year’s selection was “authentic”. This year comes as much of the US struggles to reach consensus on what is real.

“It’s always been important to me that the dictionary serves as a kind of neutral and objective arbiter of meaning for everyone,” Sokolowski said. “It’s kind of a backstop for meaning in an age of fake news, alternative facts, whatever you want to say about the value of a word’s meaning in culture.

It’s notable that the ‘polarization’ began in the early 1800s” and not during the Renaissance, as most Latin-rooted words for science did, Sokolowski said.

He called it a “fairly new word” in the scheme of the English language. “Polarized is a term that gives intensity to another word,” he continued, more often used in the US to describe race relations, politics and ideology.

“The basic task of the dictionary is to tell the truth about words,” continued the editor of Merriam-Webster. “We’ve had English dictionaries for 420 years and only in the last 20 years have we known what words people are looking for.

“Polarization” extends beyond political connotations. It’s used to highlight new cracks and deep rifts alike in pop culture, tech trends, and other industries.

All the scrutiny over Taylor Swift’s use of a private jet? Polarizing. Beef between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake? Polarizing. The International Olympic Committee’s decision to strip American gymnast Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal after the Paris Games? You guessed it: polarizing.

Even light-hearted memes – like those mocking the performance of “Australian breakdancer Rachael”, “Raygun”, Gunn, or the proliferation of similar competitions, or who counts as a nephew, proved polarizing.

Yet, paradoxically, people tend to see eye to eye on the word itself. Sokolowski cited its frequent use among people across the political spectrum, including commentators on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN.

“It’s been used by both sides,” he said, “and in a slightly ironic twist, it’s something that everybody actually agrees on.”

Rounding out Merriam-Webster’s top 10 words of 2024:

Despised

TikToker Jools Lebron’s 38-second video describing her workday makeup routine as “very modest, very conscious” lit up the summer with memes.

The video has been viewed more than 50 million times, giving “big bangs” in research, Sokolowski said, and prompting many to learn what it means to be reserved or modest.

Two weeks

Taylor Swift’s song “Fortnight,” featuring rapper Post Malone, definitely sparked a lot of searches for the word, which means two weeks. “Music can still send people to the dictionary,” Sokolowski said.

entirety

April’s solar eclipse inspired awe and much travel.

There are tens of millions of people living along a narrow stretch from Mexico’s Pacific coast to eastern Canada, otherwise known as the path of totality, where locals and travelers look skyward to see the moon completely blot out the sun.

In general, the word refers to a sum or total amount – or totality.

Resonantly

“AI-developed texts have a disproportionate share of the use of the word ‘resonate,'” Sokolowski said.

This may be because the word, which means to influence or appeal to someone in a personal or emotional way, can add weight to the writing. But, paradoxically, artificial intelligence “also betrays itself as a robot because it’s using that word a lot.”

Allison

The word was requested 60 times more than usual when, in March, a ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

“When you have a moving object on a stationary object, that’s a collision, not a collision. You’re showing that one of the two objects hit was not, in fact, moving,” Sokolowski said.

Strange

This summer on the television news show “Morning Joe,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called Republican leaders “weird.”

This may have been what launched his national career, landing him as the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee.

Although it is a word that people commonly misspell – is it “ei†or “ieâ€? And the search for that reason, the increase in its use was evident, Sokolowski said.

connoisseur

Whether the word was used to raise questions about President Joe Biden’s debate performance or Trump’s own age, it came up often.

It refers to conscious intellectual activity – such as thinking, reasoning or remembering.

Pander

Pander was widely used in political commentary, Sokolowski said. “Conservative news outlets accused Kamala Harris of inciting various groups, especially young voters, black voters, gun rights supporters.”

While Walz said that Trump’s visit to the McDonald’s kitchen provided the workers with a salary.

It means to say, do or offer what someone – such as an audience – wants or requires even though it is not “good, right, reasonable, etc”.

DEMOCRACY

In 2003, Merriam-Webster decided to make “democracy” its first word of the year.

Since then, the word “which, of course, means a form of government in which the people elect representatives to make decisions, policies and laws” is constantly one of the most searched dictionaries.

“There’s something poignant about it, that people are checking it out,” Sokolowski said. “Perhaps the most hopeful thing that the public’s curiosity shows is that they are paying attention.”