Dictionary.com chooses 'hallucinate' as 2023's Word of the Year. Here's why

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) remained in spotlight in 2023, Dictionary.com has picked a word that perfectly defines AI's possibilities, mystery and limitations as the Word of the Year.

"Hallucinate" is the word chosen by Dictionary.com as the 2023 Word of the Year. A second definition of the word describes "Hallucinate" as "(of a machine learning program) to produce false information contrary to the intent of the user and present it as if true and factual."

Dictionary.com lexicography head Grant Barrett said that the word's evolution in the technology space resembles other words like "spam" and "virus."


"It takes an older word with a different meaning but gives an a new technology spirit," he said. "It also represents this unfortunate discrepancy between what we want to happen with technology – we want it to be perfect and great solve problems – yet it's never quite there...It's messier than we plan it to be."

Tracing the origins of 'hallucinate' in technological terms
The word "hallucinate" has been associated with AI hallucinations, which gained mainstream attention this year, but its roots in technology date back to the 1970s.

"Even back then they understood, 'oh we're going to borrow this term that means to see things that aren't really there, because that's what's happening with our computer stuff that we're building,'" he said.

Despite its historical use, technology professionals are now moving away from the term as it has become too closely associated with human-like characteristics in the context of AI, he added.

How Dictionary.com picks word of the year
The selection process for the word of the year begins early, with colleagues sharing new words in a group chat as they gain popularity throughout the year. Towards the end of the year, the team gathers the words, narrows down the list, and compares final contenders based on search data. Recognizing that AI was a significant theme of the year, the team identified "hallucinate" as the word that stood out. According to Dictionary.com data, there was a 46% increase in lookups for "hallucinate" this year compared to the previous year.

What other words were in the running for Word of the Year?
Strike - Due lengthy labor battles, the word became a staple in news.
Rizz - According to Dictionary.com, Rizz was the website's most searched slang term.
Wokeism - Dictionary.com terming Wokeism a "signifier of broad political opposition". The entry for the word saw 2,300% jump in pageviews this year.
Indicted - "Indicted" remained in news several times this year, thanks to Donald Trump, leading to more searches for the word on Dictionary.com.
Wildfire - A destructive blaze in Hawaii and wildfires in Canada, which spread smoke across North America, indicated the escalation of adverse weather events attributed to climate change, as reported by Dictionary.com.