+VOCABULARY TEST: The term post-truth surged in popularity this year in discussions of how politicians defended their positions on Brexit.
REX/AP
THE ELECTION of Donald Trump as president of the United States and the U.K.’s referendum decision to leave the European Union propelled POST -TRUTH to the status of international word of the year, Oxford Dictionaries announced in mid-November.
The word has been in the air for over a decade, but its usage spiked recently. In 2016, the adjective has become particularly associated with the phrase post-truth politics, denoting “circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief,” the company stated. The term was used frequently during campaigning ahead of the British referendum on EU membership in June, with both the Leave and Remain campaigns accused of making many misleading declarations. The Leave campaign, for example, said leaving the EU would save the U.K. $435 million per week, only to later drop the claim after the vote for Brexit.