“Culture” Tops Merriam-Webster’s Top 10 Words of 2014 List

From M-W.com:

This year’s list was compiled by analyzing the top lookups in the online dictionary at Merriam-Webster.com and focusing on the words that showed the greatest increase in lookups this year as compared to last year. The results, based on approximately 100 million lookups a month, shed light on topics and ideas that sparked the nation’s interest in 2014.

The Word of the Year, with the greatest number of lookups and a significant increase over last year, is culture. Culture is not associated with any one event, but instead dominated the headlines this year, on topics ranging from “celebrity culture” to “rape culture” to “company culture.” In years past, lookups for the word culture spiked in the fall, as students encountered the word in titles and descriptions of courses and books, but this year lookups have moved from seasonal to persistent, as culture has become a term frequently used in discussions of social phenomena.

Merriam-Webster: Top 10 Words of the 2014

1. Culture
2. Nostalgia
3. Insidious
4. Legacy
5. Feminism
6. Je ne sais quoi
7. Innovation
8. Surreptitious
9. Autonomy
10. Morbidity

Learn More About Each Word on the List

See Also: 2014 Word of the Year Slide Show

See Also: Video: 2014 Word of the Year (vis M-W.com)

More Words of the Year 2014 Lists

See Also: Oxford Dictionaries Has Selected “Vape” as the 2014 International Word of the Year (November 17, 2014)

See Also:  “Exposure” Named 2014 Word of the Year by Dictionary.com

See Also:  The Heart ♥ Emoji (for love) is Top Word, Pope Francis topped by Ebola as Top Name, “Hands Up, No Shoot” is Top Phrase (via Global Language Monitor)