An American dictionary has named “They” 2019’s word of the year. 

Merriam-Webster said the pronoun was their most searched-for word. 

People looked it up 313% more in 2019 compared to the previous year. 

“English famously lacks a gender-neutral singular pronoun to correspond neatly with singular pronouns like everyone or someone, and as a consequence they has been used for this purpose for over 600 years,” the dictionary explained.

“More recently, though, they has also been used to refer to one person whose gender identity is nonbinary, a sense that is increasingly common in published, edited text, as well as social media and in daily personal interactions between English speakers.” 

Photo credit: File

Merriam-Webster added that the word – in the gender-neutral sense – has also been prominent in the news. 

“Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA) revealed in April during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Equality Act that her child is gender-nonconforming and uses they,” it explained.  

“Singer Sam Smith announced in September that they now use they and them as pronouns.  

“And the American Psychological Association’s blog officially recommended that singular they be preferred in professional writing over “he or she” when the reference is to a person whose gender is unknown or to a person who prefers they. It is increasingly common to see they and them as a person’s pronouns in Twitter bios, email signatures, and conference nametags.”

The other words highlighted in the yearly round-up are: 

• Quid pro quo 

• Impeach

• Clemency

• Camp 

• Egregious

• Tergiversate 

• The

• Snitty

• Crawdad

• Exculpate 

Last year’s word of the year was “Justice,” and the one before that was “Feminism.”

To look up definitions, head here.