Merriam-Webster’s Revealed 'Feminism' As Word Of The Year

Peter Sokolowski, says the word feminism hung in the air throughout the year.

It saw a 70 percent increase in lookups over 2016 on Merriam-Webster.com and experienced a major spike in the Women’s March in January.

The largest spike in searches came in the last weeks of January, following the Women’s March in Washington DC and around the world.

Many wore pink knitted "pussy hats" in reference to controversial remarks Donald Trump was recorded making in 2005.

The word spiked again in late February.

After White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told the Conservative Political Action Conference that it was hard for her to call herself a feminist "because it seems to be very anti-male and very pro-abortion in this context."

Feminism is defined by Merriam-Webster as:

"The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes and organized activity in support of women’s rights and interests."

Feminism was defined simply as "the qualities of females".

It said the word was first entered in an English dictionary in 1841 by Noah Webster when

Merriam-Webster said,

There was further interest in the meaning of feminism with the release of the TV series The Handmaid's Tale, based on the Margaret Atwood novel, and the hit film Wonder Woman.

Another top word for Merriam-Webster this year was also Dictionary.com's 2017 word of the year: complicit.

Merriam-Webster said its fifth most looked-up word was "dotard"

Which North Korean leader Kim Jong-un used to describe President Trump. Dotard is defined as "a person in his or her dotage", with dotage described as "a state or period of senile decay marked by a decline of mental poise and alertness".