Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year is honestly so apt for 2018

With all that's going on in the Justice Department, a very divisive appointment of a new Supreme Court Justice, not to mention the ever-ongoing fight for social justice, it makes a lot of sense that "justice" is Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year 2018.

The noun, meaning both "the maintenance or administration of what is just" and "judge," was chosen as Word of the Year by the American dictionary, since it saw a 74% increase in look-ups this year, compared to 2017.

Merriam-Webster explained that they chose the word because justice, in all it's definitions, has been a central aspect of many of the big national conversations throughout the past year. 

SEE ALSO: 'Toxic' is a sadly perfect word of the year for 2018

"The concept of justice was at the center of many of our national debates in the past year: racial justice, social justice, criminal justice, economic justice,"  Merriam-Webster writes. "In any conversation about these topics, the question of just what exactly we mean when we use the term justice is relevant, and part of the discussion."

Runner-ups to the Word of the Year are a mixed bag. They include "nationalism" (look-ups of the word was up 8,000 percent after Donald Trump used the word at a rally in October), pansexual (the term surged after actor and musician Janelle Monáe self-identified as such in a profile in Rolling Stone), and "lodestar," the word that gained a lot of buzz after being included in the famous anonymous op-ed in The New York Times. 

Oh yeah, and also "laurel," because believe it or not, the laurel vs. yanni thing happened THIS YEAR. Just in case you needed a reminder of just how long 2018 has been...

WATCH: Everyone is choosing sides on this Yanny or Laurel debate