Dictionary Merriam-Webster has named 'austerity' as its most-searched word of the year.
Meaning 'enforced or extreme economy', it was an appropriate word for a year which saw many countries struggle with debt and cutbacks.
The second most-searched word on their website was 'pragmatic', another word regularly used in conjunction with the world's economies this year.
"It's a serious list for a serious year," editor Peter Sokolowski told news agency Reuters.
Other words making the top 10 were 'moratorium', 'socialism', 'bigot', 'doppelganger', 'shellacking', 'ebullient', 'dissident' and 'furtive'.
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