The word(s) of the year, sometimes capitalized as "Word(s) of the Year" and abbreviated "WOTY" (or "WotY"), refers to any of various assessments as to the most important word(s) or expression(s) in the public sphere during a specific year.

The German tradition, Wort des Jahres was started in 1971. The American Dialect Society's Word of the Year is the oldest English-language version, and the only one that is announced after the end of the calendar year, determined by a vote of independent linguists, and not tied to commercial interest.^{[citation needed]} However, various other organizations also announce Words of the Year for a variety of purposes.

American Dialect Society

Since 1990, the American Dialect Society (ADS) has designated one or more words or terms to be the "Word of the Year" in the United States. In addition to the "Word of the Year", the society also selects words in other categories such as "Most Outrageous," "Most Creative," and "Most Likely to Succeed."

Australian National Dictionary Centre

The Australian National Dictionary Centre has announced a Word of the Year each since 2006. The word is chosen by the editorial staff, and is selected on the basis of having come to some prominence in the Australian social and cultural landscape during the year.^[1] The Word of the Year is often reported in the media as being Australia's word of the year,^[2][3] but the word is not always an Australian word.

Cambridge Dictionary

The Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year, by Cambridge University Press & Assessment, has been published every year since 2015.^[6] The Cambridge Word of the Year is led by the data - what users look up - in the world's most popular dictionary for English language learners.^[7] 

The 2023 Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year is hallucinate, referencing AI hallucinations.^[8] 

Collins English Dictionary

The Collins English Dictionary has announced a Word of the Year every year since 2013, and prior to this, announced a new 'word of the month' each month in 2012. Published in Glasgow, UK, Collins English Dictionary has been publishing English dictionaries since 1819.^[12]

Toward the end of each calendar year, Collins release a shortlist of notable words or those that have come to prominence in the previous 12 months. The shortlist typically comprises ten words, though in 2014 only four words were announced as the Word of the Year shortlist.

The Collins Words of the Year are selected by the Collins Dictionary team across Glasgow and London, consisting of lexicographers, editorial, marketing, and publicity staff, though previously the selection process has been open to the public.

Whilst the word is not required to be new to feature, the appearance of words in the list is often supported by usage statistics and cross-reference against Collins' extensive corpus to understand how language may have changed or developed in the previous year. The Collins Word of the Year is also not restricted to UK language usage, and words are often chosen that apply internationally as well, for example, fake news in 2017.^[13]

Dictionary.com

In 2010, Dictionary.com announced its first word of the year, 'change', and has done so in December every year since.^[33] The selection is based on search trends on the site throughout the year and the news events that drive them.^[34]

The following is the list of annual words since beginning with the first in 2010:^[33]