The Merriam-Webster dictionary announced the “2023 word of the year”

Merriam-Webster, one of the most authoritative dictionaries of the English language, announced the “word of the year 2023”. This word is authentic. The word “authentic” entered the Russian language as a loanword. It means “genuine”, “real”, but also “intrinsic to the nature or spirit of the person or thing in question”.

The editors of the dictionary emphasize that its users in 2023 became more interested in the authenticity or authenticity of information due to the increase in the spread of fake news and successes in the development of artificial intelligence technologies, which allow creating texts and images that are almost indistinguishable from reality. On November 1, “Artificial Intellect” was named the “Word of the Year 2023” by another well-known English dictionary – Collins.

“Authentic”, according to Merriam-Webster, can be national cuisine or folklore, if they are not modernized to meet modern tastes. At the same time, pop stars and public figures are called for “authenticity” so that they say what they really think, and not what the audience wants to hear. The root word “authentication” means confirmation of identity – for example, in social networks, authentication is used to confirm that the account really belongs to the person to whom it is registered.

• Merriam-Webster chooses the “Word of the Year” based on the number of requests for this particular term on the dictionary’s website, as well as overall growth in its use. Last year, “gaslighting” became such a word – a term also associated with the confrontation between truth and deception. Gaslighting is a manipulative technique when a person is forced not to believe his eyes, but to believe what is imposed on him.