Merriam-Webster adds metaverse, sus and hundreds of other modern words and phrases to its dictionary

guest · Sep 9, 2022

By Shawn Knight - September 9, 2022

The big picture: Modern language is constantly growing and changing thanks largely in part to the Internet and its ability to give everyone a platform to make their voice heard. It's no surprise, then, that many of the new words and phrases Merriam-Webster recently added to its dictionary have direct ties to technology and the virtual world.

Merriam-Webster added 370 new words to its dictionary in September including video doorbell, dumbphone (the opposite of a smartphone) and greenwash – to make something appear to be more environmentally friendly or less environmentally damaging than it really is. Somehow, supply chain wasn't already in the dictionary so it was also added.
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Metaverse also made the cut, as did yeet - used to express surprise, approval, or excited enthusiasm, sponcon – content posted by an influencer on social medial for which the user was paid to talk about [...]

There's also meatspace, which apparently describes the physical world and environment, especially as contrasted with the virtual world of cyberspace.
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Merriam-Webster: We Added 370 New Words to the Dictionary for September 2022

The dictionary chronicles how the language grows and changes, which means new words and definitions must continually be added. When many people use a word in the same way, over a long enough period of time, that word becomes eligible for inclusion. Here are a selection of words that met the criteria for our most recent update.
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Merriam-Webster adds metaverse, sus and hundreds of other modern words and phrases to its dictionary

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Merriam-Webster adds metaverse, sus and hundreds of other modern words and phrases to its dictionary

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