Hebrew Academy debuts new words, including term for ‘gaslighting’

The Academy of the Hebrew Language this week announced several new words in the Hebrew Language, including a translation for “gaslighting,” which was picked as Merriam-Webster’s word of the year in 2022.

Hebrew speakers can now use gizlut da’at (גזלוּת דעת) instead of the English word to describe “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for one’s own advantage.”

Merriam-Webster found a 1,740 percent increase in searches for the term in 2022.

“In this age of misinformation — of ‘fake news,’ conspiracy theories, Twitter trolls, and deep fakes — gaslighting has emerged as a word for our time,” the dictionary said in its statement in November.

Other new Hebrew words include menushav (מנושב), meaning windy, ofnei tendu (אופני טנדו) for tandem bike, perua (פרוע) for rewilding, markia (מרקיע) for a space launch vehicle, ataron (אתרון) for a minisite, or a small website, kihul (קיהול) for targeted advertising, raheshet (רחשת) for buzz, such as marketing buzz, shetef  (שתף) for a social media feed, and tischoret (תסחורת) for brand merchandise.