http://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-year-2017/?param=HP
As 2017 comes to a close, it’s time for us to reflect on the words that impacted all of us this year—for better or for worse. At Dictionary.com, the Word of the Year serves as a symbol of the year’s most meaningful events and lookup trends.
Our 2017 Word of the Year Is Complicit.
Complicit means “choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others; having partnership or involvement in wrongdoing.” Or, put simply, it means being, at some level, responsible for something . . . even if indirectly.
The word complicit has sprung up in conversations this year about those who speak out against powerful figures and institutions and about those who stay silent. As we look at the cultural and political landscape, we ask: “What does it mean to be complicit in 2017?”
“I don’t know what it means to be complicit”
When the meaning of words is called into question, people turn to Dictionary.com as a source of truth. Traces of that quest for truth show up in our trending lookup data.
The first spike in searches for complicit was on March 12, with a 10,000% increase in daily average lookups. This was the day after Saturday Night Live aired their satirical ad featuring Scarlett Johansson playing Ivanka Trump, hawking a perfume called Complicit. This scent was marketed as “The fragrance for the woman who could stop all this, but won’t.”......
As 2017 comes to a close, it’s time for us to reflect on the words that impacted all of us this year—for better or for worse. At Dictionary.com, the Word of the Year serves as a symbol of the year’s most meaningful events and lookup trends.
Our 2017 Word of the Year Is Complicit.
Complicit means “choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others; having partnership or involvement in wrongdoing.” Or, put simply, it means being, at some level, responsible for something . . . even if indirectly.
The word complicit has sprung up in conversations this year about those who speak out against powerful figures and institutions and about those who stay silent. As we look at the cultural and political landscape, we ask: “What does it mean to be complicit in 2017?”
“I don’t know what it means to be complicit”
When the meaning of words is called into question, people turn to Dictionary.com as a source of truth. Traces of that quest for truth show up in our trending lookup data.
The first spike in searches for complicit was on March 12, with a 10,000% increase in daily average lookups. This was the day after Saturday Night Live aired their satirical ad featuring Scarlett Johansson playing Ivanka Trump, hawking a perfume called Complicit. This scent was marketed as “The fragrance for the woman who could stop all this, but won’t.”......
