Your 2017 word of the year is 'complicit'


Online dictionaries have been the unexpected entities at the forefront of the 2017 #resistance, and Dictionary.com kept up the trend with its pick for the word of the year:
"At Dictionary.com, the Word of the Year serves as a symbol of the year's most meaningful events and lookup trends," Dictionary.com writes. "Complicit means 'choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others; having partnership or involvement in wrongdoing.'"
The dictionary cited Ivanka Trump's response to CBS This Morning's Gayle King when asked if she and her husband, Jared Kushner, are complicit in President Trump's actions. "If being complicit is wanting to be a force for good and to make a positive impact, then I'm complicit," Ivanka Trump replied.
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Dictionary.com also cited the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the spate of sexual harassment allegations, and propaganda on social media as examples of complicity. Additionally, "President Trump's statement following the events in Charlottesville in August, in which he said 'both sides' were to blame, showed his complicity with ideologies that promote hate, especially directed toward marginalized groups," Dictionary.com writes.
Read more about the 2017 word of the year here, and read about the 2016 word of the year here.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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