Merriam-Webster Dictionary Names 'Gaslighting' Word Of The Year

The term "gaslighting," invented in 1944 to describe the process of manipulating people into questioning their own sanity is the "term of the Year," the Merriam-Webster Dictionary announced on Monday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2022) The term "gaslighting," invented in 1944 to describe the process of manipulating people into questioning their own sanity is the "term of the Year," the Merriam-Webster Dictionary announced on Monday.

"'Gaslighting' is our 2022 Word of the Year," Merriam-Webster said in a Twitter message.

Use of the term increased more than 17 times by a total of 1,740%, the US dictionary company said.

"Gaslighting" is a colloquialism, loosely defined as manipulating someone so as to make them question their own reality, according to published sources.

The term derives from the title of the 1944 Hollywood film "Gaslight" that starred Ingrid Bergman, Angela Lansbury and Charles Boyer, though the term did not gain popular Currency in English until the mid-2010s.