As long as humans keep on human-ing, words will keep on words-ing.
This week, Merriam-Webster announced it had added a whopping 455 new entries to the dictionary — including terms across cultural, political, and technical realms. This latest batch of words reflects a rapidly evolving digital landscape, with technical entries like “teraflop” and “bit rot” appearing alongside trendier terms like “deplatform” and “copypasta.” A number of pandemic-specific terms, including “long COVID” and “super-spreader” feel especially fitting of the times.
So how are new words picked? Throughout the year, Merriam-Webster editors scour written materials to find words that have emerged online and in print. Per the publisher’s guidelines, new words are added depending on how often they are used and whether that usage occurs within the general populace, rather than a highly specialized field.
Some standout additions (and their definitions) from this update include:
air fryer: an airtight, usually small electrical appliance for quick cooking of foods by means of convection currents circulated rapidly by a fan.
amirite: slang used in writing for “am I right” to represent or imitate the use of this phrase as a tag question in informal speech. An example: “English spelling is consistently inconsistent, amirite?”
because: by reason of : because of — often used in a humorous way to convey vagueness about the exact reasons for something. This preposition use of because is versatile; it can be used, for example, to avoid delving into the overly technical (“the process works because science”) or to dismiss explanation altogether (“they left because reasons”).
copypasta: data (such as a block of text) that has been copied and spread widely online. Copypasta can be a lighthearted meme or it can have a more serious intent, with a political or cultural message.
dad bod informal: a physique regarded as typical of an average father; especially : one that is slightly overweight and not extremely muscular.
deplatform: to remove and ban (a registered user) from a mass communication medium (such as a social networking or blogging website) broadly : to prevent from having or providing a platform to communicate.
fluffernutter: a sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow crème between two slices of white sandwich bread.
long COVID: a condition that is marked by the presence of symptoms (such as fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, headache, or brain fog) which persist for an extended period of time (such as weeks or months) following a person’s initial recovery from COVID-19 infection.
Oobleck: a mixture of corn starch and water that behaves like a liquid when at rest and like a solid when pressure is applied. Oobleck gets its name from the title of a story by Dr. Seuss, Bartholomew and the Oobleck, and is a favorite component in kids’ science experiments.
super-spreader: an event or location at which a significant number of people contract the same communicable disease — often used before another noun (as in a “super-spreader event”). The term super-spreader originally referred to a highly contagious person capable of passing on a disease to many others, and now can also refer to a single place or occasion where many others are infected.
TBH: an abbreviation for “to be honest.” TBH is frequently used in social media and text messaging.
vaccine passport: a physical or digital document providing proof of vaccination against one or more infectious diseases (such as COVID-19).
whataboutism: the act or practice of responding to an accusation of wrongdoing by claiming that an offense committed by another is similar or worse also : the response itself. The synonymous term whataboutery is more common in British English.
Here’s hoping “dad bod” comes up at the next Scripps National Spelling Bee. You can see more of the 455 new words on Merriam-Webster’s website.
