The dictionary is getting a little thicker.
Dictionary.com has added 300 new words that “mirror the world around us,” according to managing editor John Kelly.
The new entries include the silly (zaddy: an attractive man who is also stylish, charming, and self-confident), the controversial (deplatform: to prohibit (a person or people) from sharing their views in a public forum, especially by banning a user from posting on a social media website or application), and the culturally sensitive (hypodescent: the classifying or identifying of a biracial or multiracial individual as a member of the lower or lowest socially ranking racial group from which that person has ancestry).
Terms related to COVID-19 are part of the new additions:
- Long COVID: a condition characterized by symptoms or health problems that linger or first appear after supposed recovery from an acute phase of Covid-19 infection.
- Long haul: (Pathology) relating to or being a condition characterized by symptoms or health problems that linger or first appear after supposed recovery from an associated acute illness or active infection.
- Long hauler: (Pathology) a person who experiences symptoms or health problems that linger or first appear after supposed recovery from an associated acute illness or active infection.
America’s racial reckoning also inspired new terminology:
- Aunt Jemima: (Slang: Disparaging and Offensive) a Black woman considered by other Black people to be subservient to or to curry favor with White people.
- Black Code: (in the ex-Confederate states) any code of law that defined and especially limited the rights of formerly enslaved African Americans in the period immediately following the Civil War.
- Cultural appropriation: the adoption, usually without acknowledgment, of cultural identity markers from subcultures or minority communities into mainstream culture by people with a relatively privileged status.
- DEI: diversity, equity, and inclusion: a conceptual framework that promotes the fair treatment and full participation of all people, especially in the workplace, including populations who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination because of their background, identity, disability, etc.
- JEDI: justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion: a conceptual framework that attempts to redress disparity and inequality in society, promoting the fair treatment and full participation of all people, especially in the workplace, including populations who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination because of their background, identity, disability, etc.
- One-drop rule: a social classification, codified in law in some states during the 20th century, that identifies biracial or multiracial individuals as Black if they have any known Black African ancestry, even from a Black ancestor many generations removed.
Dictionary.com also included some lighter words:
- Oof: an exclamation used to sympathize with someone else’s pain or dismay, or to express one’s own.
- Snack: (Slang) a sexy and physically attractive person; hottie.
- Yeet: an exclamation of enthusiasm, approval, triumph, pleasure, joy, etc.
“Sometimes language changes just for fun,” Kelly said. “Perhaps these lighter slang and pop culture newcomers to our dictionary reflect another important aspect of our time–a cautious optimism and a brighter mood about the future ahead after a trying 2020.”