âPost-truthâ has been named as Oxford Dictionariesâ word of the year after a spike in its use around the Brexit vote and Donald Trumpâs presidential bid.
Usage of the adjective, which describes circumstances where emotions and personal beliefs are more influential than facts, increased by around 2,000% since last year, the dictionaryâs research showed.
The word has been in existence for more than two decades but a rise in its use coincided with the EU referendum and the US presidential race, Oxford Dictionaries announced on Wednesday.
Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Dictionaries, told the Press Association: âItâs not surprising that our choice reflects a year dominated by highly-charged political and social discourse.
âFuelled by the rise of social media as a news source and a growing distrust of facts offered up by the establishment, âpost-truthâ as a concept has been finding its linguistic footing for some time.
âWe first saw the frequency really spike this year in June with buzz over the Brexit vote and again in July when Donald Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination.â
Post-truth was chosen from a shortlist that included âBrexiteerâ, a supporter of the UKâs EU exit, and âhyggeâ, a cosiness associated with contentment in Danish culture.
The dictionary defines âpost-truthâ as: âRelating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.â
Its earliest usage with this meaning was in a 1992 essay on the Iran-Contra scandal and the Gulf War by playwright Steve Tesich in The Nation magazine, according to Oxford Dictionaries.
Grathwohl added: âGiven that usage of the term hasnât shown any signs of slowing down, I wouldnât be surprised if âpost-truthâ becomes one of the defining words of our time.â
The announcement comes after Facebook and Google revealed they would attempt to discourage the publication of fake news by banning rogue publishers from using their ad networks to generate revenue.
The internet giants have come under fire for allowing false stories to be widely shared, including those claiming Hollywood star Denzel Washington backed Trump, that Barack Obama warned Trump not to attack his wife and that Hillary Clinton cancelled a public event because the crowd shouted âlock her upâ.
The announcement of this yearâs winner felt like it summed up 2016 to many on social media.
Previous winners include âomnishamblesâ in 2012, âbig societyâ in 2010 and last yearâs hotly-debated âface with tears of joyâ emoji.