A person prepares to administer a Pfizer COVID vaccine at a clinic in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2021. Merriam-Webster has chosen “vaccine” as the word of the year, citing a sustained surge in lookups.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images
A person prepares to administer a Pfizer COVID vaccine at a clinic in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2021. Merriam-Webster has chosen “vaccine” as the word of the year, citing a sustained surge in lookups.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
In 2020, the Merriam-Webster dictionary selected “pandemic” as its word of the year.
This year, like some 59% of fully inoculated Americans, it went with “vaccine.”
The publishing company noted that the word holds particular significance both as a medical term and a vehicle for ideological conflict.
“For many, the word symbolized a possible return to the lives we led before the pandemic,” it said in Monday’s announcement. “But it was also at the center of debates about personal choice, political affiliation, professional regulations, school safety, healthcare inequality, and so much more.”
Searches were up more than 600% from last year
The word of the year is determined by data, as Merriam-Webster has explained in the past. It must have been a top lookup at Merriam-Webster.com in the past 12 months, and it must have seen a significant increase in lookups over the previous year.
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