Cancel culture is named Macquarie Dictionary's word of the year

Macquarie Dictionary's word of the year is actually two words.

Two rather hotly debated words, at that: cancel culture.

The word itself is pretty contentious. Some have declared that cancel culture does not exist. Some have argued that it doesn't work. And some have even asserted that it has "gone too far."

But Macquarie Dictionary believes it is a word that sums up the past year.

"A term that captures an important aspect of the past year's Zeitgeist...an attitude which is so pervasive that it now has a name, society’s cancel culture has become, for better or worse, a powerful force," wrote the Macquarie Dictionary committee in a blog post.

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In case you're unfamiliar, the term cancel culture is, per Macmillan dictionary, "the practice of no longer supporting people, especially celebrities, or products that are regarded as unacceptable or problematic."

Honourable mentions for word of the year included eco-anxiety, which edged out flight shaming, ngangkari, a Pitjantjatjara word for healers, and body positivity term thicc.

The committee is no stranger to picking two words as its word of the year. In 2018, it picked Me Too, and 2017's word was milkshake duck.

Why have one word of the year when you can have two?