Dictionary.com Just Added 300 New Words to Its Inventory
It’s time to test your vocabulary—Dictionary.com recently added more than 300 new words, plus over 1,700 updated entries to its lexicon. “Many of the new word additions are tied to larger cultural conversations, from current political events to slang,” Liz McMillan, CEO of Dictionary.com, said in a press release. “Whether it’s the latest health crisis or a new abbreviated word, these definitions reflect revolving the curiosity of our user base and demonstrate the extent to which consumers turn to Dictionary.com to keep pace with latest news and popular vernacular.” Other new words, like misgender, panromantic, and ze, were added because they were frequently searched or requested by users of the site.
Take a look at some of the new, zeitgeist-inspired additions below. How many did you already know?
al desko: eating at one's desk in an office.
athleisure: a style of clothing inspired by athletic apparel but also worn as casual, everyday wear.
free-range parenting: a style of child rearing in which parents allow their children to move about without constant adult supervision, aimed at instilling independence and self-reliance.
ghosting: the practice of suddenly ending all contact with a person without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship.
hot take: a superficially researched and hastily written journalistic piece, online post, etc., that presents opinions as facts and is often moralistic.
intersectionality: the theory that the overlap of various social identities, as race, gender, sexuality, and class, contributes to the specific type of systemic oppression and discrimination experienced by an individual.
long-form: noting or relating to types of print or visual media content characterized by in-depth, lengthy narratives.
manspread: to sit with one's legs far apart, taking up too much space on a seat shared with other people.
misgender: to refer to or address (a person, especially one who is transgender) with a pronoun, noun, or adjective that inaccurately represents the person's gender or gender identity.
mom jeans: unstylish women’s jeans.
NBD: acronym for no big deal.
panromantic: noting or relating to a person who is romantically attracted to people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
Pokémon: a media franchise including video games, animated television series, movies, card games, etc. that depict a fictional class of pet monsters and their trainers.
totes: totally.
woke: actively aware of systemic injustices and prejudices, especially those related to civil and human rights.
ze: occasionally used with a singular indefinite pronoun or singular noun antecedent in place of the definite masculine he or the definite feminine she.
Zika virus: a chiefly mosquito-borne virus of the genus Flavivirus that causes Zika, a mild illness.
This article originally appeared on RealSimple.com.
http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/dictionarycom-new-words
