In the wake of the fear and hatred of “otherness” around the world this year, Dictionary.com has chosen “xenophobia” as their Word of the Year. The word choice reflects a contentious year globally, which included Brexit and the 2016 presidential election, in addition to world events and news articles focusing on immigration, Syrian refugees, burkini bans and white nationalism.
Dictionary.com defines xenophobia as “fear or hatred of foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers” or “fear or dislike of the customs, dress, etc., of people who are culturally different from oneself.” According to Dictionary.com, the word is fairly new to the English language and is a combination of “xénos meaning ‘stranger, guest,’ and phóbos meaning ‘fear, panic.'”
According to a statement, Liz McMillan, CEO of Dictionary.com, said, “Xenophobia and other words tied to global news and political rhetoric reflected the worldwide interest in the unfortunate rise of fear of otherness in 2016, making it the clear choice for Word of the Year.”
Earlier this month, Oxford Dictionaries named “post-truth” as their Word of the Year, marked too by Brexit and the contentious 2016 presidential election. They saw a significant spike in use because of politics as a whole and the commentary that accompanied it.
Previous Words of the Year by Dictionary.com include “identity,” “exposure,” “privacy,” “tergiversate” and “change.”
In response to this year’s word, Robert Reich, professor at Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, said, “Dictionary.com is right to make xenophobia the word of the year, but it is also one of the biggest threats we face. It is not a word to be celebrated. It is a sentiment to be fought.”
Social Media Reacts to Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year
Doesn't this say something about the political climate? https://t.co/WaAmb4ZnFq’s 2016 Word of the Year: Xenophobia https://t.co/h2e7begy5J
— James Taneti (@JamesTaneti) November 28, 2016
on a larger scale, the word of the year is 'xenophobia'. on a smaller scale, I'm losing hope for humanity more & more as the year progresses
— Autumn (@AutumnHazelet) November 28, 2016
https://t.co/dv6RWVK8xw just told me that the word of the year is xenophobia. Glad people know what it means. Let's embody its opposite.
— dlb (@dlburmester) November 28, 2016
Yo the word of the year is xenophobia
If ever there was a word for this year for the United States
— "just a threat" (@negressnouveau) November 28, 2016
The @Dictionarycom word of the year is xenophobia. How sad is that?
— Local Introvert (@PrepareAFace) November 28, 2016
What are your thoughts on Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year? Do you like their pick or Oxford Dictionaries’ word choice better? Sound off in the comments section below!
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Jay Leonard.
Learn how to publish your content on B2C
Join our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage
Add B2C to your Google News Feed
