Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Dictionary.com Chooses 'Existential' as Word of the Year
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
December 2, 2019

Share

NEW YORK — Climate change, gun violence, the very nature of democracy and an angsty little movie star called Forky helped propel “existential” to Dictionary.com’s word of the year.
The choice reflects months of high-stakes threats and crises, real and pondered, across the news, the world and throughout 2019.

“In our data, it speaks to this sense of grappling with our survival, both literally and figuratively, that defined so much of the discourse.” — John Kelly, senior research editor for the site, ahead of Monday’s announcement
“In our data, it speaks to this sense of grappling with our survival, both literally and figuratively, that defined so much of the discourse,” said John Kelly, senior research editor for the site, ahead of Monday’s announcement.
The word earned top of mind awareness in sustained searches at Dictionary.com in the aftermath of wildfires and Hurricane Dorian, and mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, and El Paso, Texas. It also reared itself in presidential politics and pop culture, including Forky the white plastic spork who was the breakout star of “Toy Story 4.”
The soiled utensil is convinced his destiny is in the trash, until he embraces his purpose as a treasured toy of kindergartener Bonnie.
“Forky underscores how this sense of grappling can also inspire us to ask big questions about who we are, about our purpose,” Kelly told The Associated Press.
Oxford Dictionaries picked “climate emergency” as its word of the year, noting usage evidence that reflects the “ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the passing year,” the company said in a statement.
Dictionary.com crunches lookup and other data to decide which word to anoint each year. The site has been picking a word of the year since 2010.

Climate, Guns and the Impeachment Crisis for Donald Trump

Among search spikes for “existential” were those that occurred after both Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders and 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg characterized climate change as an “existential” crisis, Kelly said.

“We started to see existential in the dialogue beginning in January and all the way through the year. This is a consistent theme that we saw in our data, but it also was leveraged across many different important questions of our time.” — Jennifer Steeves-Kiss, Dictionary.com’s chief executive officer
Another spike occurred when former Vice President Joe Biden, also vying for the Democratic presidential nod, painted President Donald Trump as an “existential threat” to decency.
The word dates to 1685, deriving from Late Latin’s “existentialis.” Dictionary.com defines existential as “of or relating to existence” and “of, relating to, or characteristic of philosophical existentialism; concerned with the nature of human existence as determined by the individual’s freely made choices.”
Enter Martin Heidegger, Karl Jaspers, Gabriel Marcel and Jean-Paul Sartre, thinkers who molded and embraced existentialism, among other movements.
Climate, guns and the impeachment crisis for Donald Trump were just a few areas that seemed to frame debate in existential terms. So did the Hong Kong protests, the Notre Dame fire, tensions between the United States and China, and Big Tech’s privacy and fake news problems.
“We started to see existential in the dialogue beginning in January and all the way through the year,” said Jennifer Steeves-Kiss, Dictionary.com’s chief executive officer. “This is a consistent theme that we saw in our data, but it also was leveraged across many different important questions of our time.”
As for Forky, his journey from disposable utensil to handmade toy points to the concept of “agency,” Kelly said, referring to the power to direct our own existences. That, he said, affords us the “opportunity to turn existential threats into existential choices.”

DON'T MISS

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

DON'T MISS

Police Had About 90 Seconds to Stop Traffic Before Baltimore Bridge Fell. 6 Workers Are Feared Dead

DON'T MISS

NBC Has Cut Ties With Former RNC Head Ronna McDaniel After Employee Objections, Some on the Air

DON'T MISS

Chinese Leader Xi Issues a Positive Message to US Business Leaders as Ties Improve

DON'T MISS

Cargo Ship Lost Power, Issued Mayday Before Hitting Baltimore’s Bridge

DON'T MISS

Trump’s Social Media Company Soars Nearly 50% in Its First Day of Trading on Nasdaq

DON'T MISS

Supreme Court Appears Likely to Preserve Access to Abortion Medication Mifepristone

DON'T MISS

Court Agrees to Pause Trump’s Civil Fraud Judgment if He Puts up $175M

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Nab Suspect in March 14 Slaying on Bulldog Lane

DON'T MISS

This Kitty Checks All the Boxes: ‘Happy, Playful, Loves to Eat’

No data was found

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

15 hours ago

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

16 hours ago

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

17 hours ago

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

17 hours ago

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

17 hours ago

Bredefeld, Smittcamp Debate the Salary of Valley Children’s CEO

17 hours ago

CA’s Liberal Government Has a Long History of Caving to Special Interests

18 hours ago

Corrupt Process? Bullard, Edison Parents Blast Handling of Superintendent Search

18 hours ago

Police Had About 90 Seconds to Stop Traffic Before Baltimore Bridge Fell. 6 Workers Are Feared Dead

19 hours ago

NBC Has Cut Ties With Former RNC Head Ronna McDaniel After Employee Objections, Some on the Air

19 hours ago

Supermom Carmi Is Ready to Be Embraced by Her Forever Family

Carmi, an incredible 1-year-old kitten mama, can be very gentle but can also get overstimulated and give love bites. Even her warm, honey-co...
Animals /

2 hours ago

Animals /
2 hours ago

Supermom Carmi Is Ready to Be Embraced by Her Forever Family

10 hours ago

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

Composite image of President Trump and Devin Nunes
14 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: How Going to Work for Trump Turned Devin Nunes Into a Millionaire

15 hours ago

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

16 hours ago

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

17 hours ago

CA Insurance Market ‘in Chaos,’ Says Former Insurance Commissioner. Can Lara Fix It?

17 hours ago

Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Sets a Record After Wall Streets Breaks Out of Its Lull

17 hours ago

House Speaker Mike Johnson Headed to Fresno on April 4

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend