Trending: ‘abject’

Lookups spiked 800% on February 5, 2019

Why are people looking up abject?

Abject cast off its normally low status in lookups during the State of the Union address, and for a time was among our most searched-for words, after President Trump used it in making the claim that the policies of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro were bringing his citizens into “abject poverty.”

Pres. Trump says: "We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom, and we condemn the brutality of Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty." #SOTU
— NewsChannel 8 | KTUL (@KTULNews) February 6, 2019

What does abject mean?

Abject may be defined as “sunk to or existing in a low state or condition,” “cast down in spirit,” or “expressing or offered in a humble and often ingratiating spirit” (as in abject flattery).

Citations

Thou neither gauest me too much riches, nor too abject poverty, lest I shold either waxe proud, or grow more contemptible: but thou gavest me understanding and wil, whereby I should know and loue thee.
— A Paradise of Prayers, 1614

Trend Watch is a data-driven report on words people are looking up at much higher search rates than normal. While most trends can be traced back to the news or popular culture, our focus is on the lookup data rather than the events themselves.