

It means downright deceitful. Manipulating. Deceptive. Merriam-Webster has named its phrase of 2022 – “gaslighting.”
The official definition for “gaslighting,” in response to Merriam-Webster, is the psychological manipulation of an individual, normally over an prolonged time frame, that “causes the sufferer to query the validity of their very own ideas, notion of actuality, or reminiscences and sometimes results in confusion, lack of confidence and vanity, uncertainty of 1’s emotional or psychological stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.”
Merriam-Webster stated searches for the definition of the phrase on its web site was up 1,740% in 2022 over the yr earlier than.

FILE – “Gaslighting” has been named Merriam-Webester’s phrase of 2022.
(Tim Boyle/Getty Photographs)
In a world stuffed with deepfakes, the darkish net and faux information, Merriam-Webster’s editor at massive Peter Sokolowski stated he was stunned that there was not a single occasion that drove vital spikes within the curiosity, because it normally goes with the chosen phrase of the yr.
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“It’s a phrase that has risen so rapidly within the English language, and particularly within the final 4 years, that it really got here as a shock to me and to many people,” stated Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at massive, in an unique interview with The Related Press.

FILE – Merriam-Webster says it picks its phrases of the yr based mostly on knowledge.
The phrase was dropped at life greater than 80 years in the past with “Fuel Mild,” a 1938 play by Patrick Hamilton.
The time period gaslighting was later utilized by psychological well being practitioners to clinically describe a type of extended coercive management in abusive relationships.
Merriam-Webster chooses its phrase of the yr based mostly on knowledge.
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FILE- Lookups for the phrase on merriam-webster.com elevated 1,740% in 2022 over the yr earlier than.
(iStock)
Sokolowski advised The Related Press that “gaslighting” spent all of 2022 within the prime 50 phrases appeared up on merriam-webster.com.
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Final yr, Merriam-Webster named “vaccine” as its phrase of the yr. “Pandemic” was Merriam-Webster’s phrase of the yr in 2020.
The Related Press contributed to this report.