Fake news is 'very real' word of the year for 2017

has seen a “steady increase” in usage over the last five years , while “antifa” saw its usage rise by almost 7,000% following violent clashes between anti-fascist protesters and the far right, particularly in the US.

Corbynmania, up by 310%, was also on the list: Collins said the term for “fervent enthusiasm” for Jeremy Corbyn “first emerged in 2015 and after a dip last year made a striking comeback in 2017 as the Labour leader impressed on the campaign trail”.

“Much of this year’s list is definitely politically charged, but with a new president in the US and a snap election in the UK, it is perhaps no surprise that politics continues to electrify the language,” said Collins’s head of language content, Helen Newstead.

“‘Fake news’, either as a statement of fact or as an accusation, has been inescapable this year, contributing to the undermining of society’s trust in news reporting: given the term’s ubiquity and its regular usage by President Trump, it is clear that Collins’s word of the year is very real news.”

Other words selected by Collins for its list of “new and notable words that reflect an ever-evolving language” include “gender-fluid”, defined as “not identifying exclusively with one gender rather than another”, which increased in use by 65% over the last year, “cuffing season”, defined as “the period of autumn and winter when single people are considered likely to seek settled relationships rather than engage in casual affairs”, and fidget spinner, the toy that is being twirled by children across the UK. “Gig economy”, defined as “an economy in which there are few permanent employees and most jobs are assigned to temporary or freelance workers”, also makes the list, as does “Insta”, relating to social-media app Instagram.

The remaining new words and meanings will be added to CollinsDictionary.com, and considered for inclusion in future print editions of the dictionary.