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Words of the Year

2016 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Editor Peter Sokolowski talks about 'surreal' and the rest of our Word of the Year 2016 selections


How did we choose surreal as our Word of the Year for 2016? Peter Sokolowski explains the data behind our decisions, and what that tells us about what people were thinking this year.

Don't miss our in-depth look at surreal and our gallery of top trending words from 2016.

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2016 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

 

How we chose 'surreal'

play videos pictures in the dictionary
Pictures in the Dictionary

 

The story of those iconic illustrations.

play onomatopoeia video
A Look at Uncommon Onomatopoeia

 

Some imitative words are more surprising than others

play contractions
On Contractions of Multiple Words

 

You all would not have guessed some of these

play serenity-carr-definitely-image
How to Remember the Spelling of 'Definitely'

 

A definitive answer.

play person studying illustration
'All Intensive Purposes' or 'All Intents and Purposes'?

 

We're intent on clearing it up

play video ie vs eg
i.e. vs. e.g.

 

Often used, often confused. Here's some guidance and insight.

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Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
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Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
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