“Authentic” named Merriam-Webster’s 2023 word of the year

Merriam-Webster has picked “authentic” as its word of the year for 2023.

The choice reflects increased demand for genuine information and content in a post-truth world marked by fakes and deepfakes, spurned by advancement in technology and artificial intelligence.

Merriam-Webster, America’s oldest dictionary, said authentic, which normally has a high-volume lookup most years, saw a “substantial increase” in 2023, driven by stories and conversations about AI, celebrity culture, identity, and social media.

Authentic has a number of meanings including “not false or imitation,” a synonym of real and actual; and also “true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character.” Although clearly a desirable quality, authentic is hard to define and subject to debate—two reasons it sends many people to the dictionary.

“Although clearly a desirable quality, ‘authentic’ is hard to define and subject to debate,” Merriam-Webster said.

The publisher said search for the word grew this year as “the line between ‘real’ and ‘fake'” became increasingly blurred by increased use of artificial intelligence. People searched for authentic text, images and videos.

“We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity,” editor at large Peter Sokolowski told The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s announcement of this year’s word. “What we realize is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more.”

Runners-up

One of the runners-up for the top was “deepfake”, used to describe videos and photos that are digitally altered with AI.

Other top words include the internet slang “rizz” – short for charisma, meaning romantic appeal or charm – and “indict”, which saw a surge in interest after former President Donald Trump was indicted, or charged, in four separate legal cases.

The dictionary’s word for the year for 2022 was “gaslighting,” and the 2021 word was “vaccine.”