The 2016 Word of the Year Is "Post-Truth"
This year’s selections reflect our intense political divides.
A year after Oxford Dictionaries presented the “emoji” as the 2016 “Word of the Year,” the Word of the Year rankings take a decidedly more political turn for the newly-released 2016 list. Coming in as the number one Word of the Year for 2016, Oxford Dictionaries declare “post-truth” as this year’s most significant word. The particular decision to place “post-truth” at the top spot came as a result of the U.S. presidential election, which many analysts say has helped bring upon a new “devaluing” of “objective facts” in political discourse. Post-truth is defined by the Oxford Dictionaries as such:
Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief
Following closely in post-truth’s footsteps are: “alt-right,” “Brexiteer,” “glass cliff,” “Latinx,” “Coulrophobia,” “Hygge,” “Chatbot,” “Woke” and “Adulting.” You can check out Oxford’s full breakdown of this year’s list above, courtesy of guest commentator and writer Neil Midgley.
