2011: The Year in Words – Merriam Webster

Defining Moments: In politics, culture, sports and more, these words were increasingly looked up because of events in the news.

	January 8: "Vitriol" After the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords…
	January 13: "Tawdry" When Sting used the word to describe his passionate…
	January 22: "Mercurial" After Keith Olbermann suddenly announced…
	February 1: "Inclement" As a major snowstorm approached the midwest and northeast U.S….
	February 7: "Rampart" Before the Super Bowl, Christina Aguilera sang the national anthem…
	February 8: "Caliphate" After Glenn Beck used it to speculate on the outcome of…
	February 22: "Martyr" When Muammar el-Qaddafi reacted to the Libyan uprising…
	February 25: "Charlatan" After Charlie Sheen called a radio show to offer his opinions…
	March 14: "Disposition" As a pop song gained new exposure in other forms…
	March 11: "Prefecture" Reports on the disasters in Japan focused on…
	March 19: "Perigee" When a full moon occurs in close orbit…
	March 31: "Insidious" As publicity increased for a new horror film…
	April 6: "Furlough" With the prospect of a federal government shutdown…
	April 12: "Consubstantial" As a controversy emerged over a prayer of the Mass…
	April 15: "Ersatz" When a Statue of Liberty's Las Vegas origins were revealed…
	April 26: "Hegemony" After the Chinese Premiere described his nation's outlook…
	May 2: "Martyr" Bin Laden's death raised questions about how radicalized Muslims…
	May 10: "Amicable" After a high-profile couple announced their separation…
	May 16: "Godspeed" During the final mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour…
	May 21: "Rapture" When the end of the world did not take place…
	May 31: "Carcinogenic" After a report about possible dangers of cell phone use…
	June 6: "Lewd" During the scandal involving Congressman Weiner…
	June 13: "Schadenfreude" After the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA championship…
	June 23: "Indubitably" When a contestant on "So You Think You Can Dance"…
	June 25: "Marriage" After New York State legalized same-sex marriage…
	July 6: "Haboob" When a massive dust storm rolled through Phoenix…
	July 11: "Sartorial" During the British royal couple's visit to North America…
	July 15: "Chutzpah" After Congresswoman Michele Bachmann used the word…
	July 28: "Ignominious" After Alex Trebek chased after a thief in the night…
	August 3: "Balaclava" After reports of a hoax involving a "collar bomb"…
	August 10: "Anarchy" Because of the riots in London and other UK cities…
	August 15: "Coddle" When Warren Buffett published a piece about taxing the super-rich…
	August 23: "Temblor" After an earthquake rattled the East Coast of the U.S….
	August 26: "Batten" As Hurricane Irene approached the U.S. coast…
	September 6: "Loathe" After Madonna ungraciously received a gift of flowers from a fan…
	September 15: "Culture" Students arriving at college were greeted, as usual, with…
	September 20: "Clemency" When Georgia's pardon and parole board "denied clemency"…
	September 27: "Champion" After a hockey player celebrated a Stanley Cup victory…
	October 6: "Mercurial" With the passing of Steve Jobs, a man known for…
	October 11: "Oblique" After two baseball players injured theirs during the playoffs…
	October 17: "Manslaughter" When the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor resumed…
	October 21: "Pariah" Many obituaries for Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi…
	November 1: "Referendum" When Greece announced a surprise decision to hold…
	November 5: "Curmudgeon" With the passing of "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney…
	November 15: "Smarmy" In a new book about the Casey Anthony trial, a prosecutor…
	November 21: "Après moi le déluge" When a commentator used it to critique Washington's politics…
	November 30: "Disburse" When Europe unlocked frozen bailout money…
	December 7: "Blasphemy" After a Saudi Court sentenced a man to 500 lashes for…
	December 14: "Zany" Mitt Romney used it while commenting about Newt Gingrich…