Amid fear and fibs, the world gets ‘surreal’

If you found yourself uttering “surreal “at the news of some of the events of 2016, you were not alone.

Reflecting a tumultuous, emotional year, Merriam-Webster said this week “surreal” is the Word of the Year for 2016, after it was looked up by users of its online dictionary more often, and for longer periods of time, than in previous years. (Dictionary.com earlier said its word of the year was “xenophobia,” while Oxford Dictionaries cited “post-truth.”)

The reason, according to Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor-at-large, was because it “is one people come back to over and over again in response to different events. And it gives us a look into 2016 according to what sent people to the dictionary.”

Lookups of the adjective, which Merriam-Webster defines as “marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream,” had three major spikes this year: In March, after coverage of the Brussels terrorist attack; in July after the coup attempt in Turkey and terrorist attack in Nice; and then the largest spike following the U.S. elections in November.

Selection of the word allowed Merriam-Webster to avoid having to choose “fascism,” which spiked throughout the year following the Brexit vote in England, the rise of right-wing or populist candidates in several European nations, and with coverage of Donald Trump’s campaign.

At one point at the end of November, Merriam-Webster said that “fascism” was the most searched word and encouraged people to look up something else so it would not remain in that position.

Other popular word searches, according to the U.S.-based dictionary:

“Revenant,” which spiked in early 2016 when Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar for the movie of the same name.

“Icon,” which spiked in April after musician Prince died.

“In omnia paratus,” which spiked with the minirevival of The Gilmore Girls television series.

“Bigly,” which spiked after people thought that was what Donald Trump said when he used the phrase “big league.”

“Irregardless,” which spiked after a baseball announcer used the word when the Cubs won the World Series. Although “irregardless” is in the dictionary, the proper term is regardless.

“Assumpsit,” which spiked after U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy told a story at the Democratic National Convention about being challenged on the definition of the word in law school.

“Faute de mieux,” which spiked after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg used the phrase in an opinion in June.

“Feckless,” which spiked in October after then-vice presidential candidate Mike Pence used it in a debate.

“(Surreal) is one people come back to over and over again in response to different events.” PETER SOKOLOWSKI MERRIAM-WEBSTER’S EDITOR-AT-LARGE