NEW YORK -- "Gaslighting" -- behavior that's mind manipulating, grossly misleading, downright deceitful -- is Merriam-Webster's word of the year.
Lookups for the word on merriam-webster.com increased 1,740% in 2022 over the year before. But something else happened. There wasn't a single event that drove significant spikes in curiosity, as it usually goes with the chosen word of the year.
The gaslighting was pervasive.
"It's a word that has risen so quickly in the English language, and especially in the last four years, that it actually came as a surprise to me and to many of us," said Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster's editor at large, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press ahead of Monday's unveiling.
"It was a word looked up frequently every single day of the year," he said.
There were deepfakes and the dark web. There were deep states and fake news. And there was a whole lot of trolling.
Merriam-Webster's top definition for gaslighting is the psychological manipulation of a person, usually over an extended period of time, that "causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator."
More broadly, the dictionary defines the word thusly: "The act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one's own advantage."
Gaslighting is considered by many a heinous tool frequently used by abusers in relationships -- and by politicians and other newsmakers. It can happen between romantic partners, within a broader family unit and among friends. It can be a corporate tactic or a way to mislead the public. There's also "medical gaslighting," when a health care professional dismisses a patient's symptoms or illness as "all in your head."
Despite its relatively recent prominence -- including "Gaslighter," The Chicks' 2020 album featuring the rousingly angry titular single -- the word was brought to life more than 80 years ago with "Gas Light," a 1938 play by Patrick Hamilton.
It birthed two film adaptations in the 1940s. One, George Cukor's "Gaslight" in 1944, starred Ingrid Bergman as Paula Alquist and Charles Boyer as Gregory Anton. The two marry after a whirlwind romance, and Gregory turns out to be a champion gaslighter. Among other instances, he insists her complaints over the constant dimming of their London townhouse's gaslights is a figment of her troubled mind. It wasn't.
The death of Angela Lansbury in October drove some interest in lookups of the word, Sokolowski said. She played Nancy Oliver, a young maid hired by Gregory and told not to bother his "high-strung" wife.
The term gaslighting was later used by mental health practitioners to clinically describe a form of prolonged coercive control in abusive relationships.
"There is this implication of an intentional deception," Sokolowski said. "And once one is aware of that deception, it's not just a straightforward lie, as in, you know, I didn't eat the cookies in the cookie jar. It's something that has a little bit more devious quality to it. It has possibly an idea of strategy or a long-term plan."
Merriam-Webster, which logs 100 million page views a month on its site, chooses its word of the year based solely on data. Sokolowski and his team weed out evergreen words most commonly looked up to gauge which word received a significant bump over the year before.
They don't slice and dice why people look up words, which can be anything from quick spelling and definition checks to some sort of attempt at inspiration or motivation. Some of the droves who looked up "gaslighting" this year might have wanted to know, simply, if it's one or two words, or whether it's hyphenated.
"Gaslighting," Sokolowski said, spent all of 2022 in the top 50 words looked up on merriam-webster.com to earn top dog word of the year status. Last year's pick was "vaccine." Rounding out this year's Top 10 are:
• "Oligarch," driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
• "Omicron," the persistent covid-19 variant and the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet.
• "Codify," as in turning abortion rights into federal law.
• "Queen consort," what King Charles' wife, Camilla is newly known as.
• "Raid," as in the search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
• "Sentient," with lookups brought on by Google canning the engineer who claimed an unreleased AI system had become sentient.
• "Cancel culture," enough said.
• "LGBTQIA," for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual, aromantic or agender.
• "Loamy," which many Wordle users tried back in August, though the right word that day was "clown."
Gas lamps illuminate St. Louis' Gaslight Square on April 2, 1962. "Gaslighting" — behavior that’s mind manipulating, grossly misleading, downright deceitful — is Merriam-Webster's word of 2022. (File Photo/AP/JMH)
With the U.S. Capitol in the background, a person waves a rainbow flag Jun 12, 2021, as they participate in a rally in support of the LGBTQIA community at Freedom Plaza in Washington. “LGBTQIA” — which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual, aromantic or agender — was one of the top 10 most searched terms on merriam-webster.com in 2022. (File Photo/AP/Jose Luis Magana)
Britain's Camilla, the Queen consort, speaks Nov. 29 during a reception to raise awareness of violence against women and girls as part of the U.N. 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence at Buckingham Palace in London. "Queen consort" was one of the top 10 most searched terms on merriam-webster.com in 2022. (File Photo/AP/Pool/Kin Cheung)
A Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center nurse loads a syringe with the Pfizer covid-19 booster vaccine Nov. 18 at an inoculation station next to Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss. “Omicron,” the persistent covid-19 variant that has been responsible for numerous infections in 2022, was one of the top 10 most searched terms on merriam-webster.com in 2022. (File Photo/AP/Rogelio V. Solis)
Federal agents carry evidence boxes Sept. 1 as they walk out of a Park Avenue high-rise in New York. They were searching properties linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire Russian oligarch. Oligarch was one of the top 10 most searched terms on merriam-webster.com in 2022. (File Photo/AP/Yuki Iwamura)