Complicit named word of year

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This article was published 01/12/2017 (3180 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What does it mean to be complicit?

If you’re a frequent user of Dictionary.com, chances are you already know. The online dictionary reported multiple spikes in lookups for “complicit” over the past several months — and ultimately chose the adjective as its word of the year for 2017.

“As 2017 comes to a close, it’s time for us to reflect on the words that impacted all of us this year — for better or for worse,” Dictionary.com said in announcing its decision Monday. “The word complicit has sprung up in conversations this year about those who speak out against powerful figures and institutions and about those who stay silent.”

Dictionary.com defines “complicit” as “choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others; having partnership or involvement in wrongdoing.” And according to the dictionary, complicity — or in some cases, the refusal to be complicit — was pertinent to some of the biggest news topics of the year, from politics to NFL players’ anthem protests, to the outpouring of personal experiences with sexual harassment and assault using the hashtag #MeToo.

“We chose our word of the year, in part, because of noteworthy stories of those who have refused to be complicit,” the dictionary said. “In the face of oppression and wrongdoing, this refusal to be complicit has been a grounding force of 2017.”

Two of the three spikes in searches for “complicit” on Dictionary.com involved Ivanka Trump, the oldest daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump and a current White House senior adviser. The first came March 12, the day after Saturday Night Live aired a sketch featuring “Ivanka Trump” (played by Scarlett Johansson) in a mock commercial for a fake perfume called “Complicit.” Dictionary.com’s second Ivanka Trump-related spike occurred after an April television interview on CBS This Morning in which the first daughter defended herself against accusations she was enabling her father’s rhetoric and policies by not speaking out forcefully. After the interview aired, searches for complicit spiked 11,000 per cent, according to Dictionary.com.

Like many other online dictionaries, including Merriam-Webster and Oxford, Dictionary.com’s “word of the year” does not have to be new or one that had the most lookups. Instead, it is meant to be a word that “embodies a major theme resonating deeply in the cultural consciousness.” Last year, the dictionary chose “xenophobia,” or the “fear or hatred of foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers.”

— Washington Post