Collins Dictionary names ‘lockdown’ its word of the year for 2020

Collins’ lexicographers registered over a quarter of a million usages of “lockdown” during 2020, against only 4,000 the previous year.

Collins Dictionary has named “lockdown” as its Word of the Year 2020 after a sharp increase in its usage amid the coronavirus pandemic. Picture: iStock

Collins Dictionary has named “lockdown” as its Word of the Year 2020 after a sharp increase in its usage amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The dictionary said it added the term because it “encapsulates the shared experience of billions of people who have had to restrict their daily lives in order to contain the virus”.