Merriam-Webster's word of the year for 2017: Feminism
Look-ups for the word feminism spiked following news coverage of the Women's March on Washington, DC in January and again when Kellyanne Conway said during an interview that she didn't consider herself a feminist. There was more interest after the release of Hulu’s series The Handmaid's Tale" and the film "Wonder Woman" and, later, in conjunction with the many accounts of sexual assault and harassment in the news and the #MeToo movement. Today’s definitions of feminism read: “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests.”
Dictionary.com's word of the year for 2017: Complicit
The word complicit came up in conversations in 2017 about those who spoke out against powerful figures and institutions and those who stayed silent. It was a year of real awakening to complicity in various sectors of society, from politics to pop culture. From our 2017 Word of the Year announcement: "Our choice for Word of the Year is as much about what is visible as it is about what is not. It’s a word that reminds us that even inaction is a type of action. The silent acceptance of wrongdoing is how we’ve gotten to this point. We must not let this continue to be the norm. If we do, then we are all complicit."
Merriam-Webster's definition of complicit is "helping to commit a crime or do wrong in some way." It comes from the Latin word meaning "to fold together." This word is one of Merriam-Webster's 2017 Words of the Year, and you should click on their link to go read about each one: feminism, complicit, recuse, empathy, dotard, syzygy, gyro, federalism, hurricane, gaffe.
1 comment:
Feminism is such an interesting word. Over the years I think people have given it more power than it originally held. It's a word that gets thrown around by politicians and celebrities both with pride and derision.
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