“Authentic” is Merriam-Webster word of the year 2023, inspired by Taylor Swift and Elon Musk

“Authentic” is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year 2023, inspired by popular singer Taylor Swift and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.

In an age of deep fakes and post-truth, as artificial intelligence is on the rise, Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2023 is authentic—the term for something we’re thinking about, writing about, aspiring to, and judging more than ever.

“Authentic” was selected as the 2023 word of the year by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, landing among the most-looked-up words in the dictionary’s 500,000 entries, the company said in a press release.

“Although clearly a desirable quality, authentic is hard to define and subject to debate — two reasons it sends many people to the dictionary,” Merriam-Webster said in its release. Look-ups for the word saw a “substantial increase in 2023,” it added.

Celebrities including Lainey Wilson, Sam Smith, and especially Taylor Swift all made headlines in 2023 with statements about seeking their “authentic voice” and “authentic self.”

Meanwhile, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk made headlines when he said that people should be more “authentic” on social media.

Meanwhile, another 13 words that stood out in the dictionary’s 2023 data, include:

1. Rizz
2. Deepfake
3. Coronation
4. Dystopian
5. EGOT
6. X
7. Implode
8. Doppelgänger
9. Covenant
10. Indict
11. Elemental
12. Kibbutz
13. Deadname