--- title: FOMO and Mx.: Merriam-Webster Dictionary Adds 2,000 Entries description: We are the language we use canonical: https://time.com/4299634/merriam-webster-fomo-mx-dox-update/ author: Katy Steinmetz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-20T12:00:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:31:41.424Z og:title: Merriam-Webster Adds 'FOMO,' 'Mx.' and 2,000 Other Words og:description: 'Trigger warning,' 'hella' and 'athleisure' also made the list og:url: https://time.com/4299634/merriam-webster-fomo-mx-dox-update/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b98575c14647faf/69888fd2cf40a80b7fc42e30/webster-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1666 og:image:height: 937 og:image:alt: Ad For Webster's Dictionary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Merriam-Webster Adds 'FOMO,' 'Mx.' and 2,000 Other Words twitter:description: 'Trigger warning,' 'hella' and 'athleisure' also made the list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b98575c14647faf/69888fd2cf40a80b7fc42e30/webster-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Merriam-Webster Adds 'FOMO,' 'Mx.' and About 2,000 Other Words > Sponsored content. 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Jay Paull—Getty Images by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Apr 20, 2016 12:00 PM UTC Merriam-Webster announced the latest additions to the company’s unabridged dictionary on Wednesday. Among the 2,000-odd entries are the likes of _FOMO_, the acronym for the “fear of missing out” that so [plagues the young](http://time.com/3983112/distracted-driving-teens-smartphones/), as well as _Mx_., [a gender-neutral honorific](http://time.com/4106718/what-mx-means/) for those who don’t care for options such as _Mr._ or _Mrs._ As with every dictionary update, the words that are added are signs of the times, reflecting what we’re talking about and how we’re talking about it. _ICYMI_ is a reminder that our overrun, distracted lives have led us to embrace abbrevs—and given us a need to flag things that get lost in the deluge. _Wacky tobacky_ reflects one of the hottest political issues of recent years: legalizing marijuana. And words like _dox_—a slang verb that means “to publicly identify or publish private information about (someone) especially as a form of punishment”—reflect our preoccupations with privacy and Internet-shaming. Merriam-Webster’s editors don’t add words willy-nilly. Their decision to add each new word is, in a sense, a bet that it has made a mark on the language worth remembering or that it will stick around for the foreseeable future. It’s also an indication that they think each word is at least fairly settled in its pronunciation and meaning. “Language is an organ of human culture,” says editor-at-large Peter Sokolowski. “Even though communication is faster, that doesn’t mean the heartbeat of language is faster. It takes time to assimilate words and make words new citizens of a language.” Here is longer sampling of the Springfield, Mass.-based dictionary’s new additions: **athleisure** _n_ : casual clothing designed to be worn both for exercising and for general use **Bitcoin** _n_ : a digital currency created for use in peer-to-peer online transactions **cognitive map** _n_ : a representation formed in the mind of one’s spatial environment **cold case** _n_ : an unsolved criminal investigation (as of a homicide or abduction) that has stopped being actively pursued because of a lack of evidence **cold turkey** _n_ : abrupt complete cessation without medication of the use of drugs by a drug addict **collapsar** _n_ : a massive star that undergoes gravitational collapse especially after colliding with another star **compassion fatigue** _n :_ apathy or indifference toward the suffering of others as the result of overexposure to tragic news stories and images and the subsequent appeals for assistance **dipsogenic** _adj_ : producing thirst **dox** _transitive verb_, _slang_ : to publicly identify or publish private information about (someone) especially as a form of punishment or revenge **farm share** _n_ : a portion of a farm’s output available for sale through a community supported agriculture system and received in batches regularly throughout the growing season **fit and flare** _adj_ : fitted through the waist and flaring out at or below the hips **FOMO** _n_, _informal_ : fear of not being included in something (such as an interesting or enjoyable activity) that others are experiencing **gastric banding** _n_ : a laparoscopic surgical procedure for the treatment of severe obesity that involves placing an adjustable band around the upper stomach to create a small pouch which empties into the remaining stomach through a narrow outlet **giclée** _n :_ a process by which high-quality prints are produced using an ink-jet printer **hella** _adv_, _slang_ : very, extremely **ICYMI** _abbr_ : used to draw attention to something published or posted online earlier **meet-cute** _n_ : a cute, charming, or amusing first encounter between romantic partners (as in a movie) **microbead** _n_ : a tiny sphere of plastic used especially as exfoliants in facial scrubs and body washes and to add texture to other personal care products **microcredit** _n_ : credit in the form of microloans provided to impoverished individuals and groups **microlending** _n_ : the lending of money in small amounts to impoverished individuals and groups who are unable to obtain loans from mainstream banks **microloan** _n_ : a small loan typically for financing entrepreneurial projects by impoverished individuals and groups especially in poor or developing regions **Mx.** _n_, _chiefly British_ **—** used as a gender-neutral title of courtesy **naff** _adj_, _British_, _informal_ : lacking in style or good taste : vulgar and unfashionable **nomophobia** _n_ : fear of being without access to a working cell phone **revenge porn** _n_ : sexually explicit images of a person posted online without that person’s consent especially as a form of revenge or harassment **TMI** _abbr :_ too much information **trigger warning** _n_ : a statement cautioning that content (as in a text, video, or class) may be disturbing or upsetting **urban fantasy** _n_ **:** a genre of imaginative fiction featuring supernatural characters or elements in an urban setting; _also_ **:** a work of urban fantasy **wacky tobacky** _n_, _slang_ : marijuana **waggle dance** _n_ : a series of figure-eight movements performed by a bee to indicate the direction and abundance of a distant food source ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4299634/merriam-webster-fomo-mx-dox-update/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4299634/merriam-webster-fomo-mx-dox-update/"},"headline":"Merriam-Webster Adds 'FOMO,' 'Mx.' and About 2,000 Other Words","datePublished":"2016-04-20T12:00:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:31:41.424Z","description":"'Trigger warning,' 'hella' and 'athleisure' also made the list","url":"https://time.com/4299634/merriam-webster-fomo-mx-dox-update/","keywords":["Living","Newsfeed","politics","Technology","Books","language","Words","Dictionary"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b98575c14647faf/69888fd2cf40a80b7fc42e30/webster-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katy Steinmetz","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b98575c14647faf/69888fd2cf40a80b7fc42e30/webster-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ad For Webster's Dictionary","caption":"Ad For Webster's Dictionary","creditText":"Jay Paull—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4299634/merriam-webster-fomo-mx-dox-update/","name":"Merriam-Webster Adds 'FOMO,' 'Mx.' and About 2,000 Other Words"}}]}] ```