‘Petfluencer’ among hundreds of new words added to Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com just added hundreds of new words — we’re being serious, er, “deadass.”
The digital lexicon added 313 new words to their extensive vocabulary on Tuesday, along with over 1,200 new and revised definitions for already existing words, in an attempt to stay on top of relevant slang terms in the zeitgeist.
“Our lexicographers observe it all, documenting language change wherever it’s happening and defining the terms that help us to understand our times,” Nick Norlen, a senior editor for Dictionary.com, wrote on the site.
Among the new or updated words are “deadass,” meaning “seriously” or “extremely”; “hellscape,” which describes someplace that is “hopeless” or “irredeemable”; and “trauma dumping,” which is to share intense, traumatic information or emotions with others unsolicited.
In the age of digital content creators, “petfluencer” — someone who attracts a following by posting content of their pet — has been added to the ever-growing index of vocabulary. “Microdosing,” or to take a small dose of a drug like LSD or magic mushrooms for mood improvement, and “forever chemicals,” also known as polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAs which have been linked to certain cancers and diseases, were also newly defined.
The annual list of additional words also includes updated definitions of already accepted words or phrases, such as “woke” or “sex.”
In the updated definition of the popular term “woke,” which has been used to define liberal or progressive policies and ideologies, Dictionary.com added a “disparaging” connotation to the word, noting a “significant increase” in a negative context in recent years.
The dictionary website also added common abbreviations and accepted terms for defining various identities, including “WOC,” or “woman of color,” and “Latine,” which replaces “the anglicized gender-neutral form Latinx.” The adjective “anti-fat” was also added, meaning someone who is opposed to fatness or fat people.
Last year, Dictionary.com added the pop culture terms “zaddy,” “oof,” “s–tshow” and “trigger warning.”
“The sheer range and volume of vocabulary captured in our latest update to Dictionary.com reflects a shared feeling that change today is happening faster and more than ever before,” John Kelly, senior director of editorial at Dictionary.com, told USA Today in a statement.
Dictionary.com’s updated lexicon follows the news that Cambridge Dictionary changed the meanings of “man” and “woman” in December. The glossary revised its definitions to include people who identify as a man or woman, despite being assigned a “different sex at birth.”
