The term gaslighting is the word of the year 2022 according to Merriam Webster, the publisher in charge of selecting the most searched word online each year.
'Gaslighting' is our 2022 #WordOfTheYear.https://t.co/i7QlIv1DBB
- Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 28, 2022
After selecting terms such as 'vaccine' in 2021 or 'pandemic' in 2020, this year the winning word was gaslighting, a psychological term that - Merriam Webster notes - refers to "the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage."
Gaslighting is a type of psychological abuse that makes the victim question his or her own reality. The Royal Spanish Academy explains that to 'gaslight' someone is "to try to make him doubt his reason or judgment by a prolonged work of discrediting his perceptions and memories".
In practice, it is about manipulating another person's perception of reality, so this year 2022 the word gained special relevance because of its alignment with other modern terms that can refer to manipulation, such as fake news or even artificial intelligence.
According to Merriam Webster, 2022 saw a 1740% increase in online searches for gaslighting, with strong year-round interest.
Origin and application of gaslighting
The term gaslighting comes from the title of the 1938 British play Gas Light (titled Angel Street in the United States) and the movie based on that play, whose plot involves a man who tries to make his wife believe she is going mad. His mysterious activities in the attic cause the gas lights in the house to dim, but he insists to his wife that the lights do not dim and that he cannot trust his own perceptions.
Since then, the term has been used colloquially to describe efforts aimed at manipulating another person's reality. Merriam Webster notes that "the idea of a deliberate conspiracy to mislead has made gaslighting useful in describing lies that are part of a larger plan. Unlike lying, which tends to be between individuals, and fraud, which tends to involve organizations, gaslighting applies in both personal and political contexts. "
Other word of the year candidates were oligarch, omicron, codify, LGBTQIA, sentient, loamy, raid, and Queen Consort.
