M-W Word of the Year Proves 2016 Was Nuts

You're not the only one who'd describe 2016 as "surreal." Merriam-Webster has chosen the synonym for "unbelievable"—officially defined as "marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream"—as its word of the year, noting searches for "surreal" spiked following Donald Trump's election win, an attempted coup in Turkey, and terrorist attacks in Brussels and Nice. "Surreal has become this sort of word that people seek in moments of great shock and tragedy," the dictionary's editor-at-large tells the BBC. "It just seems like one of those years." Other popular words were bigly, deplorable, and revenant, per Time. (More word of the year stories.)