A word which implies being true to one’s own personality and spirit was the most searched word online this year, according to Merriam-Webster.
The American publishing company, known for its dictionaries, has released its list of words that define 2023.
The chosen terms are based on the volume of internet searches each one received.
Authentic was crowned word of the year, and other honourable mentions include, rizz, deepfake, and deadname.
Authentic, which is usually a “high volume look-up,” saw a significant increase in searches in 2023, “driven by stories and conversations about AI, celebrity culture, identity, and social media,” according to Merriam-Webster.
It also has numerous definitions, including “not false or imitation,” is a synonym of real and actual; and can be used to refer to a person’s true “personality, spirit, or character, ” Merriam-Webster explained.
Because authentic holds multiple meanings it can be difficult to define and is therefore “subject to debate—two reasons it sends many people to the dictionary,” Merriam-Webster concluded.
Moreover, the term is often associated with identity, hence, the word’s versatility and use in pop-culture and media has contributed to its ubiquitousness, the dictionary explained.
Merriam-Webster highlighted rizz as a dominant internet slang word, meaning “romantic appeal or charm,” employed in general to describe a man with charisma, or a seductive charm.
Deepfake also made the list, defined by the publishing company as “an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said.” Deepfake videos and images made headlines this year, with the rise of AI and concern over the authenticity of information.
Deadname saw a spike in searches following an increase of parental rights bills across the U.S., laws that permit parents greater control over their childrens’ education. These bills require schools to use what many transgender folk and supporters call a “deadname” — the name given at birth that a person no longer uses when they transition.
Other highlighted words include coronation, in response to King Charles III’s ascension to the throne. Searches for dystopian also increased, in a year littered with earth shattering events such as raging wildfires, war, widespread protests, a cost of living crisis and so on.
Similarly, searches for the acronym EGOT spiked after Viola Davis won a grammy for her audiobook in February, earning EGOT status now that she has an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. X, in response to Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform formerly known as Twitter, also saw a rise in internet searches.
Other words that made the list include:
- Implode
- Doppelganger
- Covenant
- Indict
- Elemental
- Kibbutz
