'Polarization' is Merriam-Webster's 2024 word of the year
Voice of America
FILE - An early morning pedestrian is silhouetted against sunrise as he walks through the U.S. Flags on the National Mall and past the US Capitol Building in Washington Monday, Nov. 7, 2022,
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 that the Merriam-Webster word of the year is "polarization"?
FILE - A doctor performs an ultrasound scan on a pregnant woman on Aug. 7, 2018, at a hospital in Chicago.
FILE - A woman and a girl walk along the shore to cool off during a heat wave on the coast of Veracruz, Mexico, on June 15, 2024. FILE - Workers labor under the sun amid high heat during their workday at a construction site in the city of Veracruz, Mexico, on June 17, 2024.
Climate activists demonstrate in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, on Dec. 2, 2024.
FILE - A view of the general Hospital Panzi in southwestern Congo, Nov 5, 2024. The Panzi health zone is the focus of a mystery flu-like illness that has killed dozens of people.
Japanese sake, listed as a nominee for Intangible Cultural Heritage, is displayed on Japan's delegation table during an UNESCO World Heritage Convention, in Asuncion, Paraguay, Dec. 4, 2024.
People hold flags and signs at a demonstration as the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments over a Republican-backed ban in Tennessee on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, outside the court in Washington, Dec. 4, 2024.
FILE - The Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Brussels, March 23, 2010.
FILE - A Chinese official walks by a China and U.S. national flags ahead of a meeting between Chinese and U.S. negotiators at the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing, Aug. 28, 2023.
FILE - ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio, left, and plaintiff Joaquin Carcano address reporters after a hearing, June 25, 2018, in Winston-Salem, N.C.,
President Joe Biden speaks as first lady Jill Biden listens on the South Lawn of the White House during a ceremony to mark World AIDS Day with survivors, their families and advocates, in Washington, Dec. 1, 2024.