Merriam-Webster’s Word For 2023 Is Out — Any Guesses?

Also, find out the 20 words since ‘Word of the Year’ began in 2003

Merriam-Webster announced their ‘Word of the Year’ yesterday.

Drumroll……………

The Word of the Year is ‘Authentic.’

Here’s what the announcement said —

“Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2023 is authentic — the term for something we’re thinking about, writing about, aspiring to, and judging more than ever.

A high-volume lookup most years, authentic saw a substantial increase in 2023, driven by stories and conversations about AI, celebrity culture, identity, and social media.”

Words Through The Years!

Let’s see what the previous years’ words were. Do you remember what these past years were like for you? Do the words ring some bells?

2023: Authentic

2022: Gaslighting

2021: Vaccine

2020: Pandemic

2019: They

2018: Justice

2017: Feminism

2016: Surreal

2015: ‘-ism’

2014: Culture

2013: Science

2012: Socialism/Capitalism

2011: Pragmatic

2010: Austerity

2009: Admonish

2008: Bailout

2007: W00t

2006: Truthiness

2005: Integrity

2004: Blog

2003: Democracy

A True Picture Of The Zeitgeist

In my opinion, this year’s word profoundly describes ‘the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of our era.’

If you look back at the year, haven’t you spoken, read, written, and debated a lot about the rise of Artificial Intelligence?

AI tools like ChatGPT, Bard, Midjourney, DALL-E, Adobe Firefly, and a huge host of others have taken over the world like a storm. We have not only learned and adapted to them, but we almost cannot do without some of them now. How did this all happen so quickly, in a matter of a few months?

Everybody, from world leaders to business leaders and even creatives, is talking about AI and its effects on our lives and future.

Just recently, Barak Obama wrote about how he is staying informed —

There is a great wealth of information and benefits that we are going to gain from pursuing AI as a human race, no doubt about that. But, amidst all of this, I hope we do not lose the human touch. We, as writers, content creators, artists, etc., have been shining the light on and striving for ‘authentic’ content by humans.

I wonder what great strides the next year has in store for us!

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