Photodisc/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Every year, Dictionary.com seek out trending words and words they consider especially important, reflecting a major theme.
Unfortunately, this year, the word is xenophobia, defined as “fear or hatred of foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers.”
The website uses analytics to determine the number of searches for a word and noted that the largest data spike occurred June 24, the day after the U.K. voted to leave the European Union in what became known as the Brexit. Hundreds of users looked up the term every hour.
In 2015, the word of the year was “identity,” chosen to reflect the new ways that people are discussing the concept of identity.
In previous years, the website has chosen the words “exposure,” “privacy” and “bluster.”
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