• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. US & Canada
  4. Merriam-Webster names 'Gaslighting' word of the year
US & Canada

Merriam-Webster names 'Gaslighting' word of the year

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 28 Nov 2022 22:09

American dictionary Merriam-Webster has termed "gaslighting" as the word of the year.

  • Billion Photos/Shutterstock
    The term only gained popular currency in English in the mid-2010s. (Billion Photos/Shutterstock)

The term "gaslighting," invented in 1944 to describe the action of manipulating people and causing them to question their own sanity, is the "term of the Year," the Merriam-Webster Dictionary announced on Monday.

"'Gaslighting' is our 2022 Word of the Year," the US dictionary company said in a Twitter message.

The term's use increased more than 17 times by a total of 1,740%, Merriam-Webster said.

"Gaslighting" is a colloquialism, loosely defined as manipulating someone so as to make them question their own reality, according to published sources.

While the term derives from the title of "Gaslight," a 1944 Hollywood film that starred Ingrid Bergman, Angela Lansbury and Charles Boyer, it only gained popular currency in English in the mid-2010s.

  • Word of the year

Trending Now

All
The manuscript’s pages list monks and benefactors to the monastery who were to be included in prayers by a priest.

US to return looted 16th century manuscripts to Greece

Rescuers and people search in a destroyed building in Kahramanmaras, southeastern Turkey, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023 (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Art world rallies to raise funds for Turkey after earthquake

Most Read

London posts job ad for mercenaries for Ukraine counteroffensive

London posts job ad for mercenaries for Ukraine's counteroffensive

  • Africa
  • 24 May
The Middle East Stabilises, Against the Backdrop of a Great Unravelling

The Middle East Stabilises, Against the Backdrop of a Great Unravelling

  • Analysis
  • 28 May
In this image released by the Italian firefighters, a helicopter searches for missing passengers after a tourist boat capsized in a storm on Italy's Lago Maggiore in the northern Lombardy region, May 28, 2023 (AP)

Top Israeli intelligence official dead in Italy: Israeli media

  • Europe
  • 29 May
The domestically produced C919 passenger jet flies at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, Peoeple's Republic of China, 8 November 2022. (Reuters)

China is set to launch first commercial flight on its C919 plane

  • Asia
  • 26 May

Read this

All
New evidence unmasks Jeffrey Epstein's network of power
US & Canada

New evidence unmasks Jeffrey Epstein's network of power

  • Today
US linguist Noam Chomsky, who was among 550 academics who signed the petition calling on Glasgow University to respect free speech (AFP)
Europe

Chomsky: EU will deindustrialize if it abides by US-run world order

  • Today
Firefighters and medical personnel (AFP)
Europe

Mossad agents on capsized boat met with Italian int. to exchange intel

  • Today
Police officers wait in Westminster in London, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. (AP)
US & Canada

The GrayZone reporter detained by UK police

  • Today
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS