Merriam-Webster announced its word of the year for 2017 is "feminism," with "complicity" as the first runner-up.
According to editor Peter Sokolowski, searches for the word increased on Merriam-Webster's website 70 percent in 2017, with spikes happening after events like the Women's March on Washington.
'Feminism' was looked up 70% more in 2017 than in 2016. And it was looked up a ton in 2016.
For more on our #WordOfTheYear pick:https://t.co/DIZC3WzYCg
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 12, 2017
Searches also went up after Kellyanne Conway said, "There's an individual feminism, if you will, that you make your own choices... I look at myself as a product of my choices, not a victim of my circumstances. And to me, that's what conservative feminism is all about."
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To be clear, the definition is the "theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes" and "organized activities on behalf of women's rights and interests."
This year the nine runners-up were "complicit," "empathy," "federalism," "dotard," "recuse," "hurricane," "syzygy," "gyro," and "gaffe."
"Feminism" isn't the subtlest choice, but then 2017 hasn't much been a year for subtlety. If declaring feminism the word of the year will somehow draw attention to and manifest a few of the ideals of feminism, then we're all for it.
Image via YouTube