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HarperCollins English Dictionary Words of The Year 2023

Updated: Nov 14, 2023

Whilst 'The 10 Most Significant Words of the Year' may not yet have made it into the printed version of the dictionary, they have now all been included in the online version.


HarperCollins English Dictionary
HarperCollins English Dictionary | Wikipedia

‘AI’,a term that describes ‘the modelling of human mental functions by computer programs’ has been named Collins Word of the Year 2023. Considered to be the next great technological revolution, AI has seen rapid development and has been much talked about in 2023.


Here are the nine other words that made the shortlist but didn't grab the title of WOTY 2023.


Bazball (noun): A style of Test cricket in which the batting side plays in a highly aggressive manner.


Canon Event (noun): An event that is essential to the formation to an individual's character or identity.


Debanking (noun): The act of depriving a person of banking facilities.


Deinfluencing (noun): The use of social media to warn followers to avoid certain commercial products, lifestyle choices etc.


Greedflation (noun): The use of inflation as an excuse to raise prices to artificially high levels in order to increase corporate profits.


Nepo Baby (noun): A person, especially in the entertainment industry, whose career is believed to have been advanced by having famous parents.


Semaglutide (noun): A medication used to suppress the appetite and control high blood sugar.


Ulez (acronym): For ultra-low emission area: An area into which only vehicles that emit very little pollution are allowed to enter without paying a charge.


Ultra Processed (adjective): Of food, prepared by using complex industrial methods from multiple ingredients, often including ingredients of little or no nutritional value.

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