Merriam-Webster’s 2018 Word Of The Year: “Justice”

Via press release from Merriam-Webster:

Our Word of the Year for 2018 is justice. It was a top lookup throughout the year at Merriam-Webster.com, with the entry being consulted 74% more than in 2017.

The concept of justice was at the center of many of our national debates in the past year: racial justice, social justice, criminal justice, economic justice. In any conversation about these topics, the question of just what exactly we mean when we use the term justice is relevant, and part of the discussion.

This year’s news had many stories involving the division within the executive branch of government responsible for the enforcement of laws: the Department of Justice, sometimes referred to simply as “Justice.”

Of course, the Mueller investigation itself is constantly in the news, and is being carried out through the Justice Department. Another big news story included yet another meaning of the word justice, as a synonym or title for “judge,” used frequently during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court.

Oxford Dictionary’s word for 2018 is “toxic.”

For a number of reasons and meanings, ‘justice’ was on the minds of many in 2018.

‘Justice’ is our 2018 #WordOfTheYear.https://t.co/kyB9swUkQp

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 17, 2018