In the era of search engines, it’s easier than ever to look up word definitions—and to see what words other people are searching for, thanks to tools like Google Trends and others like it. The definitions that people search for can reveal a lot about what people are interested in or wondering about. 

Before we dive into the data, let’s briefly explore the history of dictionaries and word definitions.

The History of Word Definitions

Dictionaries have a very long history and date back almost to the dawn of writing. Some of the earliest known dictionaries are lexical lists in the form of cuneiform tablets created by Akkadian and Sumerian-speaking communities in ancient Mesopotamia in the second and first millennia BCE. Other early dictionaries, such as ones from ancient Greece in the first century CE, often featured insights about the evolution of language over time. 

The first English dictionary was Robert Cawdrey’s A Table Alphabetical, which dates to 1604 and contained some 3,000 words. By 1755, Samuel Johnson had released a much larger dictionary that contained 43,000 words. But it was Noah Webster’s 19th-century endeavors that helped standardize American English.

The Most Searched-For Words Overall

An analysis of 2026 search data from Unscramblerer has revealed that gaslighting is the year’s most common word definition people search for on Google, followed by love. Gaslighting is a type of psychological manipulation that involves causing someone to mistrust their own thoughts and decisions, and clearly, a lot of people are curious about the meaning of this word. 

Love, meanwhile, is probably the thing that has most fascinated humans over the course of our existence on Earth. Still, what exactly love is has remained a point of ongoing debate and discussion, and fodder for poets through the ages, so it makes sense that this term would come in second. Coming in third was fascism, a far-right, nationalist political ideology that often includes an authoritarian leader who represses critics.

After fascism came empathy, which describes understanding and sharing in another’s feelings and experiences. Then came integrity, which refers to steadfast adherence to strong moral guidelines. 

Unscramblerer used data from Google Trends and Ahrefs to discover which words were most commonly searched between January and June 2026, based on queries accompanied by terms like “definition,” “definition of,” and the like. 

The full list of words is below:

1.      Gaslighting – 286,900 searches.

2.      Love – 274,900 searches.

3.       Empathy – 265,600 searches.

4.      Fascism – 264,700 searches.

5.      Integrity – 262,100 searches.

6.      Metaphor – 242,200 searches.

7.      Narcissist – 186,500 searches.

8.      Culture – 186,300 searches.

9.      Democracy – 183,100 searches.

10.   Bias – 174,200 searches.

11.   Adjective – 174,500 searches.

12.   Science – 172,600 searches.

13.   Justice – 164,500 searches.

14.   Equity – 158,400 searches.

15.   Hyperbole – 155,700 searches.

16.   Niche – 155,000 searches.

17.   Inflation – 152,700 searches.

18.   Anxiety – 152,600 searches.

19.   Socialism – 151,700 searches.

20.   Republic – 149,800 searches.

21.   Urban – 144,700 searches.

22.   Philosophy – 144,400 searches.

23.   Propaganda – 143,300 searches.

24.   Apathy – 137,700 searches.

25.   Nuance – 132,900 searches.

The Most Searched-For Word Definitions By State

The analysis then went further, revealing the most-searched words by state. A spokesperson for Unscramblerer reflected on the words’ significance. “One of the most striking findings is that Americans’ top searched definitions in 2026 are dominated by abstract concepts rather than objects. From love and justice to democracy and integrity, people are searching for words that help them understand ideas, values, and human behavior,” they said. 

“Our research shows that emotions, society and education are the categories that stand out the most. Emotional words: gaslighting, love, empathy, narcissist, anxiety, stress and apathy. Societal words: fascism, democracy, justice, equity, culture, socialism, republic, bias, propaganda and inflation. Educational words: metaphor, hyperbole, adjective, science, philosophy and fiction. People are searching for definitions to better understand personal experiences and public conversations.”

See the full list below:

·        Alabama – Love.

·        Alaska – Fascism.

·        Arizona – Inflation.

·        Arkansas – Economics.

·        California – Tone.

·        Colorado – Adjective.

·        Connecticut – Bias.

·        Delaware – Sepsis.

·        Florida – Philosophy.

·        Georgia – Democracy.

·        Hawaii – Revenue.

·        Idaho – Adjective.

·        Illinois – Bias.

·        Indiana – Gaslighting.

·        Iowa – Sociology.

·        Kansas – Love.

·        Kentucky – Empathy.

·        Louisiana – Love.

·        Maine – Ursine.

·        Maryland – Proxy.

·        Massachusetts – Science.

·        Michigan – Evidence.

·        Minnesota – Weather.

·        Mississippi – Love.

·        Missouri – Government.

·        Montana – Gouache.

·        Nebraska – Psychology.

·        Nevada – Philosophy.

·        New Hampshire – Revenue.

·        New Jersey – Metaphor.

·        New Mexico – Democracy.

·        New York – Equity.

·        North Carolina – Church.

·        North Dakota – Weather.

·        Ohio – Fiction.

·        Oklahoma – Culture.

·        Oregon – Fascism.

·        Pennsylvania – Metaphor.

·        Rhode Island – Providence.

·        South Carolina – Population.

·        South Dakota – Purpose.

·        Tennessee – Equity.

·        Texas – Republic.

·        Utah – Stress.

·        Vermont – Bias.

·        Virginia – Community.

·        Washington – Revenue.

·        West Virginia – Integrity.

·        Wisconsin – Metaphor.

·        Wyoming – Gaslighting.

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