Sometimes a single word can capture the significance of a national moment, feeling or cultural shift. The selected word(s) of the year are thus, “a word or phrase of what they deem the greater societal importance in the public sphere over the last 12 months”. And more recently how many hits a particular word gets in the inter net searches.

We take a look at the several selected by various dictionaries for 2024’s word of the year -add a few of our own- and look to you for others present and future.