Austerity: "enforced or extreme economy." That's the word of the year according to dictionary specialist at Merriam-Webster. The company's Top Ten Words of the Year for 2010 are determined by the volume of user lookups at Merriam-Webster.com.
According to a release, lookups for austerity peaked several times throughout the year, as people's attention was drawn to global economic conditions and the debt crises in Europe. "Austerity clearly resonates with many people," said Peter Sokolowski, Editor at Large at Merriam-Webster, who monitors online dictionary searches. "We often hear it used in the context of government measures, but we also apply it to our own personal finances and what is sometimes called the new normal."
The #2 word, pragmatic, was pinged a lot during the election season and the political negotiations that followed.
According to the company a number of words on this year's list reflect a somber national mood, with "ebullient" being the most upbeat - used a lot in the Chilean mine rescue.
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year rankings for 2010 are:
1. austerity
2.pragmatic
3. moratorium
4. socialism
5. bigot
6. doppelganger
7. shellacking
8. ebullient
9. dissident
10. furtive
Since 2003 the most searched words have been:
2009: Admonish
2008: Bailout
2007: w00t
2006: Truthiness
2005: Integrity
2004: Blog
2003: Democracy
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