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(CNN) - If your 2019 was something like ours, it sounded like this:
"What's going on? What does this all mean? How long will the human species remain alive if the planet is on fire?
All are powerful questions. And according to Dictionary.com, we have been addressing many heavy things in 2019. That is why the site chose as its word of the year “existential”.
The word "inspires us to ask big questions about who we are and what our purpose is in the face of our various challenges, and reminds us that we can make decisions about our lives in the way we answer those questions."
But there is a dark side to that choice.
In the year largely defined by "threat and crisis" issues, the word continued to appear in searches, searches that often followed events involving climate change, armed violence and democratic institutions, the site said.
Let us explain.
What it really means
As with most English words (sigh), the word has two slightly different ways of using it.
“When entering English at the end of the 17th century, this existential is often used when the fact that someone or something is - its mere existence - is at stake. An existential threat to a species, for example, puts its continued existence in real and concrete danger, ”said the website.
As for example, this time scientists warned that climate change poses an "existential threat in the medium and long term for human civilization."
READ: Mass displacements, lethal heat and collapsed ecosystems: climate change will be an “existential threat” in 2050, according to report
The other way the word is used is "related to the nature of human existence as determined by the choices freely made by the individual," according to Dictionary.com.
As for example, that moment when Google Calendar was inactive for three hours and we all had an existential crisis.
This second definition can also be associated with "existential questions," which often seek answers related to the "nature and purpose of life," the site said.
(Think: "To be or not to be" and "Why bother making my bed anyway?").
Why they chose it
The word "captures a sense of struggle with the survival, literally and figuratively, of our planet, our loved ones, our ways of life," said Dictionary.com.
List three main reasons why you crowned this word as the winner.
The term "existential" often increased after discussions about climate change and major natural disasters, such as Hurricane Dorian, the site said.
MIRA : Climate change: surprising figures
It also came to mind after man-made disasters, when hate rhetoric seemed to influence criminals.
After the El Paso massacre, when a shooter opened fire on a Walmart and killed 22 people, a local official said: "Words are having ever more significant existential consequences in our society," the site said.
He said that after the massacre, terms such as "stochastic terrorism" and "white supremacists" emerged in the searches.
The third reason why Dictionary.com chose it? Joe Biden
The Democratic presidential candidate once called President Donald Trump an "existential threat to the United States."
"One thing is for sure: Biden's" existential "use triggered word searches over 1,000%," the site said.
The words of previous years have also been quite bleak
It seems that planet Earth has been having a difficult time. The past years were no better.
Last year, Dictionary.com chose “misinformation” as its word of the year.
"Armed with conscience, we can do everything possible to recognize misinformation when we find it and work to stop its spread," the site said.
READ: The Oxford dictionary summarizes 2018 with its word of the year
He said his choice was a "call to action" to help combat the false information circulating.
In 2017, the magic word was "accomplice." In an interview that year, Ivanka Trump said: "I don't know what it means to be an accomplice."
It means "choosing to get involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others," the site said.
In 2016, the winner was “xenophobia”, defined as “a fear or hatred of foreigners”.
"That particular year saw the fear of the surface of cultural discourse emerge," the online dictionary had said.
Hopefully next year's word is "puppies."
word of the year