Merriman-Webster has announced "surreal" is the 2016 Word of the Year, with lookups of the word spiking for different reasons throughout the year.
According to Merriman-Webster, it started with the Brussels terror attack in March. Other major spikes included the days following the Turkey coup attempt and the terrorist attack in Nice, France.
The largest spike though came following the U.S. election in November.
The definition of surreal is: "marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream," and is a relatively new word, dating back to the 1930s.
Other top lookups on Merriman-Webster's website in 2016 included:
- Revenant
- Icon
- In Omnia Paratus
- Bigly
- Deplorable
- Irregardless
- Assumpsit
- Faute de Mieux
- Feckless
