Merriam Webster finally announced its Word of the Year 2016 as surreal, subsequent to rising lookups following various shocking world events. Defined as “"marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream”, the largest spike in lookups for it followed the US presidential election in November, as reported by Webster.If I were to personally choose a word of the year for 2016, it would be sympathy. There have been many unfortunate events around the word this year, including serious human tragedies. The least one can do in such circumstances is sympathize – not in the sense of pity, but more in the form of empathy, putting oneself in the sufferers’ shoes as opposed to carrying on with one’s life as if nothing were wrong. Among the dictionary definitions of sympathy are the following:
- Webster: “the act or capacity of entering into or sharing the feelings or interests of another/ the feeling or mental state brought about by such sensitivity”
- Cambridge: “understanding and care for someone else’s suffering”
- Oxford: “understanding between people; common feeling”
My colleague and fellow blogger Jessy Assy has already chosen her 2017 word of the year, as a sort of New Year’s resolution: balance (Jessy Assy’s Writing Diary). In a busy, frantic, multi-tasking world, one needs balance – one can definitely sympathize with that!
What is your word of the year? Why not share it with us?
