year in review

The Word of the Year Is ‘Feminism’

Last year’s word was “surreal.” Photo: KAREN BLEIER / Staff/This content is subject to copyright.

Just like the “Silence Breakers” were Time magazine’s Person of the Year, and Donald Trump was the first runner-up, “feminism” is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year, and “complicit” is a first runner-up.

Searches for the word on Merriam-Webster’s website increased 70 percent in 2017, and spiked after several events (such as the Women’s March), according to editor Peter Sokolowski.

Kellyanne Conway spiked searches for “feminism” after she said, “There’s an individual feminism, if you will, that you make your own choices … I look at myself as a product of my choices, not a victim of my circumstances. And to me, that’s what conservative feminism is all about.”

In case you’re part of that increase, it’s defined as the “theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activities on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”

The nine runners-up, in no particular order, are “complicit,” “recuse,” “empathy,” “dotard,” “syzygy,” “gyro,” “federalism,” “hurricane,” and “gaffe.” Happy 2017, everyone.

The Word of the Year Is ‘Feminism’