Israel's words of the year in 2022 were "sinkhole," "governance" and "delusion," according to a poll by the Academy of the Hebrew Language.
Thousands of Israelis voted on a selection of nine words and phrases, which also included "compassion," "climate," "gender," "at full power," "spyware" and "mortgage."
The Academy noted that the word "sinkhole" ("Bol'an" in Hebrew) began to be used in the 1960s to replace the non-Hebrew word "dolina" and the word "Blu'a" which was added to the Academy's dictionary in 1959.
The word "governance" ("mishilut" in Hebrew) was first used in the press in the early 2000s to refer to the actions of one who governs.
The word "delusion" is based on a word in Isaiah 56:10 "hozim" which the translator Sammuel Ibn Tibbon gave the definition "imagining false imaginings." The word is used to describe hallucinations or delusions in modern Hebrew and more recently has come to mean "an unacceptable state" as well.
Last year's word of the year was "tirlul" which means "to drive someone crazy" in English.
Public invited to vote on their favorite linguistic innovation by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda
As the Academy of the Hebrew Language prepares to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the father of modern Hebrew, it has invited the public to vote for their favorite linguistic innovation by Ben-Yehuda. Voting will end when Hebrew Day is marked.