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