Dictionary.com chooses ‘misinformation’ as word of the year

This screen image released by Dictionary.com shows an entry for the word misinformation, which Dictionary.com announced as its 2018 Word of the Year. AP

Misinformation, as opposed to disinformation, is Dictionary.com’s word of the year. It comes on the tattered coattails of “toxic,” picked earlier this month for the same honor by Oxford Dictionaries in these tumultuous times.

Dictionary.com linguist Jane Solomon said of Monday’s choice that debate over lies and truth-telling has been prominent in US politics and throughout the world in 2018.

The site, with 90 million monthly users, picked “complicit” as the 2017 word of the year.

Solomon told The Associated Press ahead of the formal announcement that important distinctions should be made between misinformation and disinformation. Though they share some characteristics, she said Dictionary.com chose the less nefarious intent of misinformation as word of the year as a call to action. /ee