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Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year Is Probably Yours, Too

Last year’s was pandemic—so this is progress.

Vaccine is the new pandemic. That’s according to Merriam-Webster, which declared “vaccine” the word of the year, after giving that distinction to “pandemic” in 2020. “This was a word that was extremely high in our data every single day in 2021,” Peter Sokolowski, the dictionary’s editor-at-large, told the Associated Press. “It really represents two different stories. One is the science story, which is this remarkable speed with which the vaccines were developed. But there’s also the debates regarding policy, politics, and political affiliation.” Merriam-Webster said searches for “vaccine” surged more than 600 people over 2020. Runners-up included “insurrection” and “infrastructure.”