Merriam-Webster

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FILE- In this Aug. 29, 2010 file photo, an Oxford English Dictionary is shown at the headquarters of the Associated Press in New York. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones, File)

In search of better words of the year than ‘polarization’ and ‘brain rot’

By Jim Daly and Focus on the Family – Higher Ground Partner

FILE - From left, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, attend the 9/11 Memorial ceremony on the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, on Sept. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

‘Polarization’ is Merriam-Webster’s 2024 word of the year

By Anna Furman - Associated Press

Send your letters to the editor: yourletters@washingtontimes.com

Letter to the editor: Trump threatens Marxism, not democracy

The 11 finalists for the Scripps National Spelling Bee pose for a picture after the day's competition, Wednesday, May 31, 2023, in Oxon Hill, Md. Left to right-Shradha Rachamreddy, 13, from San Jose, Calif., Aryan Khedkar, 12, from Rochester, Hills Mich., Arth Dalsania, 14, from Camarillo, Calif., Pranav Anandh, 14, from Glen Mills, Pa., Sarah Fernandes, 11, from Omaha, Neb., Charlotte Walsh, 14, from Arlington, Va., Dev Shah, 14, from Largo, Fla., Surya Kapu, 14, from South Jordan, Utah, Dhruv Subramanian, 12, from San Ramon, Calif., Vikrant Chintanaboina, 14, from San Jose, Calif., and Tarini Nandakumar, 12, from Round Rock, Texas. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Top speller in English to be crowned at Scripps National Spelling Bee finals

By Ben Nuckols - Associated Press

Gas lamps illuminate St. Louis' Gaslight Square on April 2, 1962. "Gaslighting" — mind manipulating, grossly misleading, downright deceitful — is Merriam-Webster's word of 2022. (AP Photo/JMH, File)

‘Gaslighting’ is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2022

By Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

Illustration on Thanksgiving by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

Thanksgiving according to whom?

By Cal Thomas

Merriam-Webster.com is displayed on a computer screen on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) **FILE**

Man pleads guilty to threatening dictionary company over definition of ‘woman’

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

No longer just fascist-adjacent

Merriam-Webster.com is displayed on a computer screen on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) **FILE**

ICYMI, pumpkin spice among new Merriam-Webster entries

By Mark Pratt - Associated Press

Police stand outside an entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump said in a lengthy statement that the FBI was conducting a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate and asserted that agents had broken open a safe. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

For news media, a raid is a raid until it involves Trump

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

Merriam-Webster.com is displayed on a computer screen on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) **FILE**

Merriam-Webster’s ‘female’ definition now includes nod to gender identity

By Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

A syringe is prepared with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in the Norristown Public Health Center in Norristown, Pa., on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021. Amid concern about vaccines protecting against delta and omicron variants that are spreading, the push to get coronavirus booster shots is not an immediate priority in most of the top sports leagues in North America. AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

COVID-19 shots are not vaccines

By Michael McKenna

This screen image released by Dictionary.com shows an entry for allyship, named Dictionary.com's word of the year. (Dictionary.com via AP)

“Allyship” is 2021 word of the year for online dictionary site

By Leanne Italie - Associated Press

A sign directs motorists to a vaccination site at National Jewish Hospital on March 6, 2021, in east Denver. Merriam-Webster has declared vaccine its 2021 word of the year. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Merriam-Webster chooses vaccine as the 2021 word of the year

By Leanne Italie - Associated Press

A sign directs motorists to a vaccination site at National Jewish Hospital on March 6, 2021, in east Denver. Merriam-Webster has declared vaccine its 2021 word of the year. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

‘Vaccine’ declared Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year

By Jennifer Harper - The Washington Times

Merriam-Webster.com is displayed on a computer screen on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) **FILE**

Dad bod FTW, amirite? Merriam-Webster dictionary adds hundreds of new words

Associated Press

Joe Biden's Broadband Plan and New Red Tape Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

Broadband boondoggle: Not all government spending on infrastructure is an investment

By Randolph J. May

Illustration on Biden's effect on America by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

The war for the soul of America

By Robert Knight

In this Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020, photo the word pandemic is displayed in a dictionary in Washington. Merriam-Webster on Monday announced “pandemic” as its 2020 word of the year. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Merriam-Webster’s top word of 2020 not a shocker: pandemic

By LEANNE ITALIE - Associated Press

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, speaks as the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from legal experts on the final day of the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Socialism’s sneaky verbiage

By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times