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Merriam-Webster has just announced that it's 2022 word of the year is "Gaslighting".
According to them, the official definition for gaslighting is:
"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"
OR "the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one's own advantage"
Merriam-Webster say that in 2022 alone, searches for the word and its definition have gone up 1,740% compared to last year. Merriam-Webster, which logs 100 million views a month on its site, chooses its word of the year based solely on data.
Do you google what gaslighting meant this year?