Merriam-Webster’s word of the year is ‘gaslighting,’ and don't try to tell us there isn't a Japanese equivalent

LIFE / Language / Vocabulary Boost

Merriam-Webster’s word of the year is ‘gaslighting,’ and don’t try to tell us there isn’t a Japanese equivalent

While there's a Japanese translation for 'gaslighting,' the language more often uses umbrella terms for psychological manipulation. | GETTY IMATES

By Yuko Tamura
Contributing writer

Dec 16, 2022

Last month, the English dictionary Merriam-Webster chose “gaslighting” as its word of the year after seeing a 1,740% spike in searches for the term in 2022.

Japan is also no stranger to the term, which most often appears in katakana as ガスライティング (gasuraitingu, gaslighting).

ガスライティングは「特に自分自身の利益のために誰かをひどく惑わせる行為または慣行」と定義されています (Gasuraitingu wa “toku ni jibun-jishin no rieki no tame ni dareka o hidoku madowaseru kōi mata wa kankō” to teigi sarete-imasu, Gaslighting is defined as “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage”).