Authentic self. Authentic voice. All are phrases that have made headlines this year. So it's only fitting that "authentic" is Merriam-Webster's word of the year. The word was not boosted at any one point in time, according to editor at large Peter Sokolowski, but consistently throughout the year. This could be thanks in part to conversations around AI, celebrity culture, identity and social media. “We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity,” Sokolowski told @apnews. “What we realize is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more.” Head to the link in our bio to see the other top-searched words and terms of 2023, and visit us on Threads to see our top stories from this year featuring "authentic" in the headline.