Every year a plethora of words are made official by being included in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. This year 850 words will be added, including the word "embiggen." If you think it sounds familiar, you're correct and you have an amazing memory like gamespot, because that word was created by "The Simpsons" more than 20 years ago.

In the '96 Season 7 episode "Lisa the Iconoclast," the word was used by the character Jebediath Springfield (below). "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man," which became the motto of Springfield and was written by Dan Greaney. Merriam-Webster defines Embiggen as "to make bigger or more expansive."

Embiggen creator Dan Greaney commented on news of the word's inclusion via Twitter!


Other such words/phrases that were added to the dictionary this year include "cryptocurrency," "life hack," "hate-watch," "subtweet" and my personal favorite, "Dumpster fire." Check out their blog post to read more.

I only have one question: Why wasn't "cromulent" added?

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