‘Justice’ is Merriam-Webster’s 2018 Word of the Year

MANILA, Philippines – Merriam-Webster selected “justice” as its 2018 Word of the Year.

The term was chosen based on data from Merriam-Webster.com, with the word being a top lookup throughout the year and consulted 74% more than in 2017.

It was “on the minds of many people in 2018,” as they looked up the common word for the abstract concept.

“The concept of justice has been at the center of many of our national debates in the past year: racial justice, social justice, criminal justice, economic justice,” Merriam-Webster added.

People looked up definitions of justice when news stories involving the US Justice Department came up across 2018.

These included times when the US Justice Department reversed lenient enforcement policies toward marijuana laws, as well as when it announced support for a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers. It also became timely when a probe into Tesla began.

“Obstruction of justice” also became a buzzword after US President Donald Trump tweeted about wanting former attorney general Jeff Sessions to stop the Mueller investigation.

Merriam-Webster added, “We’ve seen over the years that when common words are used in contexts that are very specific, technical, or legal, people look them up in the dictionary for the detail and nuance that a definition can provide.” 

Ten other notable words that brought people to search for meanings online are the following:

• nationalism
• pansexual
• lodestar
• epiphany
• feckless
• laurel
• pissant
• respect
• maverick
• excelsior

– Rappler.com