May 2009

APRIL Top Twenty

The news of the swine flu outbreak caught the attention of dictionary users last month, as pandemic shot to the top of the list as the most looked-up word for April. Some old friends are on the list too, as well as a few others from the news. For example, even swine broke into April's Top Twenty.

  1. pandemic
  2. epidemic
  3. ubiquitous
  4. cynical
  5. facetious
  6. fascism
  7. imminent
  8. integrity
  9. effect
  10. apathetic
 
  1. albeit
  2. affect
  3. marriage
  4. whether
  5. gorgeous
  6. egregious
  7. swine
  8. conundrum
  9. ensure
  10. quite

Some words have been showing up so regularly among the top twenty that we might call them endemic to the list: ubiquitous, cynical, integrity, gorgeous, and conundrum.

A relative newcomer, marriage has been getting attention as more states and their courts weigh in on same-sex marriage laws.

And then there's fascism. Recently used in political opinions to describe economic policies of President Obama, it seems to be showing up on the list for the same reason socialism did earlier (socialism slipped down to around 50 on the list this month). For more on fascism, see this month's Words in the News.


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