Collins Dictionary has announced that its word of the year 2022 is "permacrisis." The word is a new edition to Collins, which, according to the platform, indicates an era of instability and insecurity. Collins said in the official statement that the word of the year indicates the ongoing Ukraine War, the consequent rise in the cost of living, and the political upheaval the world has witnessed in 2022.

Other words from the list include:

Kyiv
warm bank
quiet quitting
vibe shift
Carolean
splooting
sportswashing
partygate
lawfare

Check out Collins Dictionary's 'Word of the year'

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Word of the year

Collins Dictionary said that "lockdown" is its Word of The Year in 2020 following a dramatic increase in usage during the spread of Covid-19. Lexicographers said they picked the word because it had become synonymous with the experience of populations across the world as governments look to curb the coronavirus pandemic. "It is a unifying experience for billions of people across the world, who have had collectively to play their part in combating the spread of COVID-19," publishers Harper Collins said.

Heavily used

Collins registered more than a quarter of a million usages of "lockdown" during 2020, against only 4,000 the previous year. Because of the way the pandemic has affected the daily use of language, six of Collins' 10 words of the year in 2020 are related to the global health crisis.

"Coronavirus", "social distancing", "self-isolate" and "furlough" as well as "lockdown" and "key worker" were included in the longer list of 10 words of the year. "Key worker" alone has seen a 60-fold increase in usage reflecting the importance attributed this year to professions considered to be essential to society.

Global shadow of pandemic

"2020 has been dominated by the global pandemic," Helen Newstead, a language consultant at Collins, said. "Lockdown has affected the way we work, study, shop, and socialise. "With many countries entering a second lockdown, it is not a word of the year to celebrate but it is, perhaps, one that sums up the year for most of the world."

Meaning

Collins defines "lockdown" as "the imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction, and access to public spaces". According to the dictionary, coronavirus is: "Any one of a group of RNA-containing viruses that can cause infectious illnesses of the respiratory tract, including COVID-19." Significant social and political developments beyond the virus have also been reflected in the list, which has already made its way into online editions of the English dictionary.

New trends

A wave of Black Lives Matter protests, sparked by the death in US police custody of unarmed black man George Floyd, spread around the world and brought a new awareness of the movement. The abbreviation "BLM", often used as a hashtag on social media, was widely used in conversations and reporting following the protests, registering an increase in usage of 581 percent by Collins.

This year, Collins has included "TikToker", which describes someone who shares content on the TikTok social media platform. "Mukbang", which refers to a South Korean trend of video bloggers eating large quantities of food in videos broadcast to their followers, has also made the list.

Collins Dictionary is published by HarperCollins in Glasgow. The dictionary, which maintains a database of over 18 billion words, is managed by Collins Learning, a division of HarperCollins headquartered in Scotland. Collins Dictionary tracks words commonly used across the media, social networks, and other public sources to create an annual list of new words. For instance, six of the top 10 words for 2022 are new additions to the dictionary.

Commenting on the new top 10 words list for 2022, Collins Learning MD Alex Beecroft said that the words listed reflected the state of the world at the moment. Beecroft further added that language was a mirror of the happenings in society, especially in the challenging situation the world found itself in. He said that people were living in a world of uncertainty and worry, citing the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the looming energy crisis, rapidly growing inflation, Brexit, COVID-19, and political instability.

FAQs:

What are the Collins Dictionary words for 2022?
The words for 2022 are permacrisis, partygate, warm bank, quiet quitting, vibe shift, Carolean, splooting, sportswashing, lawfare, and Kyiv.
How many words are there in the Collins Dictionary?
More than 18 billion words.

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Permacrisis is Collins Dictionary's word of the year. Know why and its meaning

Glasgow-based HarperCollins is the publisher of the Collins Dictionary. The dictionary is run by Collins Learning, a branch of HarperCollins with its headquarters in Scotland. It has a database of more than 18 billion words.