Tag: Dictionaries

2025 Words of the Year

~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment
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For writers, authors and content creators, words are the most important element of our business. Without words, we wouldn’t have any work to do or any stories to tell. The popularity of words, however, come and go like the winds of winter. Here one day, gone the next.

As you may have heard on the news, Merriam-Webster recently revealed its word of the year for 2025. If you had the word Slop in the office pool, you would win bragging rights.

Slop refers to the low quality digital content sometimes produced by artificial intelligence, which may include fake news that appear to be real, talking cats, ridiculous videos, and AI-generated books. Simply put, slop is a product of little or no value.

“AI slop has turned social media into an antisocial wasteland,” reported CNET, an online site covering technology.

In addition to slop, there are several runners-up, according to Merriam-Webster:

* Gerrymander – the act of dividing a state, school district, etc. into political units to give one party an advantage over others

* Touch grass – to have real-world experiences and participate in activities away from the  online digital world

* Performative – something made or done for show, usually to bolster one’s own image or make an impression on others

* Tariff – a tax on goods

* Conclave – often refers to the assembly of cardinals to elect a new pope

Merriam-Webster selected their top words based on how many times they were looked up. You can learn more about their selections on their website. Other dictionaries and literary sources have shared their words of the year as well:

* Parasocial = From Cambridge Dictionary, parasocial refers to the one-sided relationships that people form with celebrities, influencers, AI chatbots and book characters.

* Rage bait = From Oxford University Press, rage bait is online content designed to elicit anger or outrage by intentionally being frustrating, provocative or offensive in the hopes of increasing traffic or engagement on social media.

* Vibe coding = According to the Collins Dictionary, vibe coding is software development that turns natural speaking language into computer code using artificial intelligence.

All of these terms got me thinking about my own selections. Which words or terms did I hear the most throughout the year, or made an impact on our day-to-day business? I came up with the following:

* Affordability = With so much concern about rising costs, especially of health care insurance and groceries, affordability became a term everyone mentioned.

* Good trouble = peaceful activism without violence or aggressive tactics in order to make a point or persuade positive action. A good example of good trouble is the 25-hour marathon speech Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey gave earlier this year to protest the U.S. president’s administration policies.

* AI fatigue = a condition brought on by hearing too much enthusiastic discussions and news updates about artificial intelligence.

* Performance politics = Politically-motivated activities seemingly staged for the purpose of influencing the opinions of selected groups of people while making other groups or individuals feel uncomfortable.

* Inclusion = providing access to products, services and amenities to all individuals, especially in underserved communities, to provide equitable opportunities and experiences.

Editor’s note: I generally avoid writing about politics in my posts and prefer to keep this blog focused on writing and creativity. However, most of the words of the year reflect what has occurred in our world the past year, so I couldn’t ignore them.

What about you? Do you have a word or phrase of the year? What words do you think will dominate the news headlines in 2026?

I am taking the next two weeks off to celebrate the holidays and plan my posts for 2026, though I may post again during New Year’s Week if I feel inspired. Look for more news, trends and inspiration in the coming year. Until then, thank you for reading and have a Merry Christmas.

‘Justice’ Is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year

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Looking back on 2018, it seemed that most news stories, with the exception of sports and weather, dealt with some aspect of justice. It comes in many different forms too: racial justice, social justice, criminal justice, and more recently, environmental justice. It is no wonder that “justice” was named by Merriam-Webster.com as its top word of 2018.

The concept of justice has many interpretations — from legal and technical to philosophical, the dictionary site explains, and today’s news stories attempt to explain what those concepts mean in our society. As we enter 2019, we will all continue to grapple with what justice means for our lives.

Second on Webster’s list is ‘nationalism’, a word that President Trump used in a speech in October where he described himself as a ‘nationalist.’  Nationalism is defined as “loyalty and devotion to one nation, particularly exalting it above all others.” Nationalism is not to be confused with ‘patriotism,’ which is defined as “love and devotion to one’s country, but not putting it above all other countries.”

The third top word on the 2018 list is ‘pansexual’, a word that actress/singer Janelle Monae used in a Rolling Stone article to describe her sexual orientation and preferences. The prefix “pan” means “all” or “complete” so the word pansexual may be a useful alternative to bisexual.

Other words topping the list include:

* Lodestar – meaning one who serves as an inspiration, model or guide

* Epiphany – a sudden perception of essential meaning or an illuminating realization

* Feckless – ineffective or worthless. In a rarely used antonym, ‘feckful’ means efficient or effective

* Laurel – Did you hear the audio clip that went viral? Did the voice say ‘laurel’ or ‘yanny’?

* Pissant – Derogatory word used by a radio DJ described the daughter of Patriot’s quarterback Tom Brady

* Respect – A tribute to the late Aretha Franklin and her legendary song. It comes from the Latin word ‘respectus’, meaning “the act of looking back.”

* Maverick – An independent individual who doesn’t go along with a group or party. Often used to describe the late Senator John McCain.

* Excelsior – Stan Lee’s motto and salutation often concluded the monthly column he wrote for Marvel Comics. Comes from the Latin word meaning ‘higher’.

For more detailed explanations about these words and their origins, check out Merriam-Webster.com.

The top words were determined by the number of times they had been looked up on their site for meaning and clarification.

This annual list, as fun as it is, highlights why we still need to use a dictionary at times, to not only understand words and meanings, but how those meanings evolve over time and impact our conversations and our writing. It’s also a wonderful way to add to our vocabulary. Who knew there was such a word as ‘feckful’?

Last year about this time, after the 2017 list was revealed, I made my list of words for 2018. Among the words I listed were: backlash, harassment, impeach, bi-racial, isolationism, nuclear, resurgence, and bomb cyclone. I even made up a term, global cooling, to describe the cool reception the U.S. would receive after Trump decided to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

So what words do you think will be in the news in 2019 that will have you running to the nearest dictionary? I have a few in mind. Some are repeats from last year’s list, including ‘treason’ and ‘harassment’. In addition, look for the words ‘equity’, ‘collusion,’ ‘reform’ and ‘vortex’ to hit the news one way or another.

Merry Christmas!