Max Falkenberg

Merriam-Webster announced Monday that "polarization" is its word of the year. “Polarization means division, but it’s a very specific kind of division,” Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, told The Associated Press. “Polarization means that we are tending toward the extremes rather than toward the center.” Polarization is defined as "division into two sharply distinct opposites; especially: a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes." The noun also has scientific meaning. Merriam-Webster also describes polarization as "the action of polarizing or state of being or becoming polarized: such as the action or process of affecting radiation and especially light so that the vibrations of the wave assume a definite form, the state of radiation affected by this process, an increase in the resistance of an electrolytic cell often caused by the deposition of gas on one or both electrodes or magnetization." Other top words of the year from Merriam-Webster reflected trends and current events in 2024. They included "demure," "totality," "fortnight," "resonate," "allision," "pander," "weird," "cognitive" and "democracy."