‘Complicit’ selected as 2017 word of the year
Dictionary.com sees spike in search for word’s definition.
What does it mean to be complicit?
If you’re a frequent user of Dictionary.com, chances are you already know. The online dictionary reported multiple spikes in lookups for “complicit” over the past several months — and ultimately chose the adjective as its word of the year for 2017.
“As 2017 comes to a close, it’s time for us to reflect on the words that impacted all of us this year — for better or for worse,” Dictionary. com said in announcing its decision. “The word complicit has sprung up in conversations this year about those who speak out against powerful figures and institutions and about those who stay silent.”
Dictionary.com defines “complicit” as “choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others; having partnership or involvement in wrongdoing.” And according to the dictionary, complicity — or in some cases, the refusal to be complicit —was pertinent to some of the biggest news topics of the year, from politics to NFL players’ anthem protests to the outpouring of personal experiences with sexual harassment and assault using the hashtag #MeToo.
“We chose our Word of the Year, in part, because of noteworthy stories of those who have refused to be complicit,” the dictionary said. “In the face of oppression and wrongdoing, this refusal to be complicit has been a grounding force of 2017.”
Two of the three spikes in searches for “complicit” on Dictionary.com involved Ivanka Trump, the oldest daughter of President Donald Trump and a current White House senior adviser. The first came Mar. 12, the day after “Saturday Night Live” aired a sketch featuring “Ivanka Trump” (played by Scarlett Johansson) in a mock commercial for a fake perfume called “Complicit.”
“She’s beautiful. She’s powerful. She’s ... complicit,” a narrator purrs in a voiceover for the commercial, as Johansson-as-Ivanka glides around a formal reception in a rose-gold sequined gown.
“Complicit: The fragrance for the woman who could stop all this, but won’t,” the commercial concludes. “Also available in a cologne for Jared.”
The following day, searches for “complicit” increased 10,000 percent on Dictionary.com. Rival online dictionary Merriam-Webster also reported a spike in lookups for the word after the SNL sketch, which has more than 8 million views on YouTube.
Dictionary.com’s second Ivanka Trump-related spike occurred after an April television interview in which the first daughter defended herself against accusations that she was enabling her father’s rhetoric and policies by not speaking out forcefully.
“If being complicit is wanting to, is wanting to be a force of good and to make a positive impact, then I’m complicit,” she said in an interview on “CBS This Morning.” “I don’t know that the critics who may say that of me, if they found themselves in this very unique and unprecedented situation that I am now in, would do any differently than I am doing.”
She added: “I don’t know what it means to be complicit. But you know, I hope time will prove that I have done a good job and, much more importantly, that my father’s administration is the success I know it will be.”
The third largest spike in lookups for the word took place Oct. 24, after Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., announced that he would not be seeking reelection in 2018.
Like many other online dictionaries, including Merriam-Webster and Oxford, Dictionary.com’s “word of the year” does not have to be new or one that had the most lookups. Instead, it is meant to be a word that “embodies a major theme resonating deeply in the cultural consciousness.” Last year, the dictionary chose “xenophobia,” or the “fear or hatred of foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers.”
The cultural consciousness was no less dark through the eyes of those over at Oxford University Press (which chose “post-truth” as its international word of the year in 2016, after its use skyrocketed during a contentious “Brexit” referendum and a divisive U.S. presidential election) and at Merriam-Webster (where “surreal” edged out “fascism” to be the 2016 pick). Compare that to 2015, when Oxford University Press chose an emoji — the laughing-crying one — as its word of the year for the first time.
“As many of you know from looking up the definition of complicit, there’s nothing positive or good about it,” Dictionary.com said. “In fact, being complicit is decidedly negative, as it means that a person is involved with someone or something that’s wrong. Whatever your politics, this meaning is not up for debate.”