This summer's list shows words that are very frequently looked up year-round, although our number-one word gorgeous is relatively new to the list. The most looked-up words for this summer were:

gorgeous quixotic apathetic appreciate cantankerous affect pretentious whether effect cynical

awkward love pugnacious albeit conundrum aloof eclectic ubiquitous integrity colleague

The storms and flooding in the Midwest this summer had many people looking up levee, a word that was frequently looked up in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

From the presidential campaign came vet and vetter after Sen. Barack Obama stated he would not hire a "vetter to vet the vetters" of his vice-presidential search committee. Satire and prurient were both words that required definition during the excitement caused by a cartoon used on the cover of the July 21 issue of The New Yorker; for more on this, see this month's Words in the News.

And the word catharsis was on the minds of many people for several days in August after Sen. Hillary Clinton used the word in relation to a potential roll-call vote for her nomination at the Democratic convention.

In the negative column is the scandal surrounding former Sen. John Edwards's infidelity. Reporting made much use of the word narcissistic, but the word barely made a dent in terms of dictionary lookups.

Finally, the Olympics cracked the word list just once, on the day of the open ceremonies, with pageantry.