“Polarization” is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2024

After a controversial presidential election Merriam-Webster has chosen its word of the year for 2024: “polarization.”

The American dictionary publisher announced its choice today, the term being defined as ‘division into two sharply different opposites’. However, as Merriam-Webster editor-in-chief Peter Sokolowski tells us Associated press‘ Anna Furman, the word suggests a ‘very specific kind of division’.

“Polarization means we lean toward the extremes instead of the center,” he says.

Merriam-Webster chooses each word of the year based on lookup data: how many times a word was searched in the online dictionary. Last year the winning word was ‘authentic’, while ‘gaslighting’ claimed the title in 2022. Meanwhile, the words of the year in 2021 and 2020 were ‘vaccine“And”pandemic”, respectively.

“The basic job of the dictionary is to tell the truth about words,” Sokolowski told the AP. “We’ve had English dictionaries for 420 years, and it’s only in the last 20 years that we’ve known what words people look up.”

The data offers a glimpse into the ideas gaining ground in American culture. According to the announcement, this year’s top word “reflects Americans’ desire to better understand the complex state of affairs in our country and around the world.”

Some of Merriam-Webster’s other contenders for 2024 were “subdued” (popularized by TikTok videos), “totality” (tied to the total solar eclipse), “fortnight” (the title of a Taylor Swift song) and “alliance” (used to describe the Baltimore Bridge collapse).

‘Polar’ is derived from the Latin word polariswhich refers to the North and South Poles. Meanwhile, the verb ‘polarize’ was first used in a scientific journal in 1811, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

In the centuries that followed, ‘polarization’ took on new meanings. It is sometimes used to describe non-political divisions, but it is “most commonly used in the US to describe race relations, politics and ideology,” according to the AP.

“Polarization” is Merriam-Webster’s 2024 word of the year

Idealistic differences between political parties often feel insurmountable WashingtonPostShadi Hamid wrote in a column in October. “People have fundamentally different views about what is right, true and good,” he wrote. Polarization “is not just a phase. It is now our default setting.”

As Sokolowski tells the AP, the dictionary is intended to act as a universally “neutral and objective arbiter of meaning.” When it comes to the word “polarization,” most people seem to agree on its definition. Major news outlets across the political spectrum have done so used the word to reflect on American politics, especially during this year’s presidential election.

“Polarization has been widely used to describe America in 2024,” Greg Barlow, president of Merriam-Webster, said in the announcement. “Ironically, it is a concept shared by both sides of the political divide.”