The results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election rattled the country and sent shockwaves across the world -- or were cause for celebration, depending on who you ask. Is it any surprise then the Merriam-Webster word of the year is "polarization"?
"Polarization means division, but it's a very specific kind of division," said Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster's editor at large, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press ahead of Monday's announcement. "Polarization means that we are tending toward the extremes rather than toward the center."
The Merriam-Webster entry for "polarization" reflects scientific and metaphorical definitions. It's most commonly used to mean "causing strong disagreement between opposing factions or groupings." Merriam-Webster, which logs 100 million pageviews a month on its site, chooses its word of the year based on data, tracking a rise in search and usage.
Last year's pick was "authentic." This year's comes as large swaths of the U.S. struggle to reach consensus on what is real.
FILE - People gather at No Studios to watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, on Sept. 10, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)
FILE - Chris Covert, front right, from Leawood, Kan., watches the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a 97-year-old movie theater on Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
FILE - A VistaJet private jet, dubbed "The Football Era," with the tail number 9H-VTD, thought by online sleuths to have Taylor Swift aboard, arrives at Los Angeles International Airport from Tokyo's Haneda Airport, on Feb. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)
FILE - Taylor Swift embraces Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce after the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game against the San Francisco 49ers, on Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Chiefs won 25-22 against the 49ers. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)
FILE - Rapper Kendrick Lamar appears at the MTV Video Music Awards, on Aug. 27, 2017, in Inglewood, Calif., left, and Canadian rapper Drake appears at the premiere of the series "Euphoria," in Los Angeles on June 4, 2019. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Australia's Rachael Gunn, known as B-Girl Raygun,competes during the Round Robin Battle at the breaking competition at La Concorde Urban Park at the 2024 Summer Olympics, on Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin, File)
FILE - Jordan Chiles, of the United States, holds up her medals after the women's artistic gymnastics individual apparatus finals Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, on Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)