I'm Obsessed With How Accurate The "2021 Words Of The Year" Are In Describing The Sheer Madness That Was 2021

From vaccines to cicadas, 2021 was certainly a year to remember.

Every year, various dictionaries release their words of the year.

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And while I might be exposing myself here, I always nerd out over the results.

Their picks are usually the most-searched words or phrases on their websites for that year, and they're often pretty telling about what exactly went down.

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For example, some from 2020 included pandemic, WFH, Black Lives Matter, COVID-19, and asymptomatic.

Everyone from Merriam-Webster to dictionary.com has been unveiling their selections for which words defined 2021 as the year winds down.

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And this year, the choices serve as a year-in-review, painting a picture of exactly what 2021 was like.

Merriam-Webster chose vaccine as their top word.

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If 2020 was the year of the pandemic, then 2021 was the year of the vaccine. We saw life slowly begin to shift back to precedented times with the release of three vaccines that protect against COVID-19. 

In 2021, “vaccine” was looked up 601% more times than it was in 2020. The dictionary also revised the definition for the term in May, adding new information about the ways vaccines trigger an immune response. 

Another most-searched term was insurrection following the events of January 6.

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Views for the word spiked in January after the violence in Washington, D.C., and in July when the U.S. House Select Committee hearings began. 

The site also singled out the word "cicada," as 2021 marked Brood X's (the type of cicada that emerged this spring) return after 17 years of hibernation.

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Lookups spiked in May and June, with May's search rate being 1,442% higher than normal. And if cicadas gross you out, you're in luck. They won't be back until 2038.

Other popular searches included "meta" after Facebook announced they were focusing on building a Metaverse, "guardian" after Cleveland's baseball team changed their name, and "murraya", which was the winning word at the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

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Dictionary.com chose "allyship" as their word of 2021.

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The term was chosen for the way it represents "the way the public processed" the events of 2021. Allyship was added to the website just this year and marks the first time a word has been selected as word of the year in the same year it was added to the dictionary. 

Others that made their shortlist include "critical race theory," "burnout," and once again, "vaccine."

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And third time's the charm for vaccine because it also landed at the top of the Oxford Dictionary's list!

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Although they ultimately landed on "vax," citing all of the contexts it appears in, from "vax cards," to "vax sites," to being "fully vaxxed."

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The Collins dictionary chose "NFT" (aka non-fungible token) as their pick, and honestly, I'm glad — maybe now I'll actually understand what an NFT is.

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BTW, the official definition of an NFT is "a digital certificate of ownership of a unique asset, such as an artwork or a collectible."

A few of their other picks include "cheugy," "crypto" and "hybrid working."

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They also threw Mark Zuckerberg some love and included "metaverse" on their list as well.

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And finally, the Cambridge Dictionary anointed "perseverance" as their pick. It symbolizes both NASA's Mars rover safely landing in February, and the overall feel of 2021 at times.

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After all, the official definition is "the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition; the action or condition or an instance of persevering; steadfastness."

Have any other words that perfectly sum up the events of 2021? Let us know in the comments!