This is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2023

Merriam-Webster announced Monday that its word of the year for 2023 is “authentic,” in a nod to the rise of artificial intelligence and a spread of misinformation on social media platforms.

Merriam-Webster said it saw a “substantial increase” in searches for the word in 2023, which the dictionary publisher says was “driven by stories and conversations about AI, celebrity culture, identity and social media.” Merriam-Webster said people are searching for the word because it has a number of different meanings, including “not false or imitation” and “true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character.”

“The rise of AI helped drive interest in the word,” Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, said in a statement. “The line between ‘real’ and ‘fake’ has become increasingly blurred. As a result, in social media and marketing, ‘authentic’ has become the gold standard for building trust—and authenticity, ironically, has become a performance.”

The dictionary publisher said many celebrities, including singer Taylor Swift, Sam Smith and Lainey Wilson, made statements about their “authentic voice” and “authentic self,” which also made searches for the word spike. Ultimately, Merriam-Webster said being “authentic” is what influencers, celebrities and brands all aspire to.

There were a number of other top contenders for the word of the year.

Following with the artificial intelligence trend, “deepfake” saw a sharp increase in searches in April, after lawyers for Tesla said CEO Elon Musk’s previous statements on self-driving safety could have been faked, the dictionary publisher said. Merriam-Webster said searches for the word jumped again in May and June after fake ads emerged that including the likeness of Ryan Reynolds and former President Trump.

There was an uptick in searches for “indict” over the last year, likely due to Trump being indicted four times on criminal charges. Searches for X, the platform previously known as Twitter, increased in July, when Musk first rebranded Twitter and confusion swirled around its new name. 

“Implode” was also one of the top lookups from this year after the Titan submersible hoping to visit the wreckage of the Titanic went missing in June. It was later discovered that the submersible had imploded.

Merriam-Webster said “kibbutz” saw an increase in searches in October after militant group Hamas launched its deadly attack on Israel. Kibbutz is known as a communal farm or settlement in Israel, the publisher noted.

“Dystopian” also saw an increase in searches on Earth Day in April, amid record-high temperatures. It also saw a jump later in the year in connection to the regulation of AI, the publishing company said.

Another widely searched word included “coronation” in May, when King Charles III was crowned. The publisher also noted that “rizz,” a slang term meaning “romantic appeal or charm,” was among the top searches after it was added to the dictionary in September.

Other top words for the past year include “covenant,” “deadname,” “doppelgänger” and “elemental,” the publisher said.