Did You Search For The 2022 Word Of The Year?

The top searched word on Merriam-Webster for 2022 is “gaslighting.”

‘Gaslighting’ is our 2022 #WordOfTheYear.https://t.co/i7QlIv1DBB

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 28, 2022

 So what is gaslighting (in case you didn’t look it up like everyone else)?

: psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one’s emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator

Basically, it’s when somebody makes you think you’re crazy even when you’re (probably) not. *checks toxic ex’s Instagram to make sure you really lived through that*

The rest of the words in the top ten are:

2. “oligarch” — think Russia invading Ukraine

3. “omicron” — as in the Covid 19 variant

4. “codify” — people wanted to know what was going on with abortion laws after Roe was overturned

5. “queen consort” — because we were all wrapped in the Royal’s family when Queen Elizabeth passed

6. “raid” — there was a big ol’ search of Trump’s place in Mar-a-Lago

7. “sentient” — something about an AI system catching feels

8. “cancel culture” — never heard of it

9. “LGBTQIA” — the most colorful of the searches; maybe people wanted to make sure they know which letters meant what

10. “loamy” — a lot of people thought this was the Wordle some time back in August according to NPR