Google Year in Search: Here are the 10 most searched definitions in 2022
It should come as no surprise given Wordle was the most searched for in Google that eight of the top ten definitions were five-letter answers for the game.
Google released its 2022 Year in Search report and the viral hit of the year Wordle topped the chart. So it should come as no surprise that the vast majority of the most searched for definitions only had five letters.
Eight of the ten most-searched-for definitions were in fact answers to the simple word deduction challenge game developed by software engineer Josh Wardle for his partner who loves word games. So which words did netizens need the definition for in 2022? Let’s have a look…
The 10 most Google searched definitions in 2022
Top of the list was “rupee” which was the Wordle answer 1 March. Searches for the Indian currency spiked that week well above its baseline search traffic.
Second on the list was “oligarch”, obviously too long to be in the word game but was on the tip of everyone’s tongue when the Kremlin decided to invade neighboring Ukraine. It could go without saying searches for the Russian businessmen that have plundered their nation skyrocketed at the end of February.
Third on the list is “Cacao”, the delectable ingredient that makes chocolate, chocolate, saw searches reach the stratosphere when it was the Wordle answer 18 June.
Hordes took to Google to search for the definition of “Homer” around 5 May. As you can guess the loveable character from the Simpsons and the Greek poet was again the answer to Wordle at that time.
“Recession”, the fifth most searched definition, has been on many people’s lips over the course of 2022. Worries about an economic downturn spiked when the Federal Reserve got serious about tackling rampant inflation implementing the first two of four consecutive three-quarter of a precent rate hikes.
By now you shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that the sixth word “canny”, meaning “having or showing shrewdness and good judgment, especially in money or business matters,” saw searches jump when it was the answer to Wordle on 8 May.
While “foray” appears not to be often searched for, that changed spectacularly on 07 April to become the seventh most searched for word of 2022. That day people “raided” Google for its definition and, you guessed it, was the answer to Wordle.
“Trove”, “a store of valuable or delightful things,” sent the Google search trend meter soaring as the answer to Wordle on 23 February.
The Wordle answer for 18 March and ninth most searched definition was “Sauté”. And like a ballet dancer performing the move, Google searches for its definition jumped that day and afterwards landing right back to where it had been before.
It should be “understood or implied without being stated” that the tenth most searched word was the Wordle answer 20 February when people took to Google to know the meaning of “tacit”.