Surreal

Welcome to the Voice of America’s News Words.

This news word is the 2016 Merriam-Webster Dictionary word of the year.

Surreal.

Merriam-Webster says web searches for surreal rose after several world events and tragedies in 2016.

But, the largest increase in searches for surreal came just after the United States presidential election in November.

Surreal describes something or someone as very strange or unusual.

It can seem like a dream.

Surreal is often used to describe something shocking.