'Polarization' is Merriam-Webster's 2024 word of the year

Merriam-Webster has announced its word of the year for 2024, and it's "polarization!"

According to the dictionary, the word was "widely used across the media landscape" amid the US 2024 presidential elections.

The dictionary defines the term 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."

"Search volume on Merriam-Webster.com throughout the year reflected the desire of Americans to better understand the complex state of affairs in our country and around the world," Merriam-Webster said on its website.

There were other words that stood out in the dictionary's 2024 date: totality, demure, fortnight, pander, resonate, allision, weird, cogitive, and democracy.

"Demure" is also Dictionary.com's 2024 word of the year.

Other words of the year by various dictionaries include brat, brain rot, and manifest. —JCB, GMA Integrated News