This mind-manipulation is so pervasive that Merriam-Webster has made it the Word of the Year for 2022.
If you’re like, “I’ve heard ‘gaslighting’ it a million times, but what does it actually mean?” Don’t worry about looking it up – we’ll save you a few clicks.
In case you didn’t know, the word was brought to life 84 years ago with the 1938 play by Patrick Hamilton, called “Gaslight.”
Merriam-webster.com breaks it down:
“…the term comes from the title of a 1938 play and the movie based on that play, the plot of which involves a man attempting to make his wife believe that she is going insane. His mysterious activities in the attic cause the house’s gas lights to dim, but he insists to his wife that the lights are not dimming and that she can’t trust her own perceptions.
When gaslighting was first used in the mid 20th century it referred to a kind of deception like that in the movie. We define this use as:
: psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one’s emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator
But in recent years, we have seen the meaning of gaslighting refer also to something simpler and broader: “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for a personal advantage.” In this use, the word is at home with other terms relating to modern forms of deception and manipulation, such as fake news, deepfake, and artificial intelligence.”
Lookups for the term were up by 1740% this year. The odd thing is, there was no one event that caused a spike. That’s what typically happens with the word of the year.
The company says it was looked up frequently every single day.