Hashtag, Selfie, Catfish Added To ‘Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary’

The list of new words added to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary was heavily influenced by social media and technology, as additions include hashtag, selfie, tweep, and even catfish.

MerriamWebstersCollegiateDictionary650The list of new words added to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary was heavily influenced by social media and technology, as additions include hashtag, selfie, tweep, and even catfish.

Tech-related entries included crowdfunding, big data, and gamification.

The definitions for the most Facebook-centric of the new words follow:

  • catfish: a person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes.
  • hashtag: a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text (such as a tweet).
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