David Zapatka
Reader, friend, and fellow bridge player, Cathie Bonnell, said, “How about the word, ‘otrovert,’ for a word of the month?”
I discovered that otravert is a new word that has not yet been accepted into the English language as an official word but is well on its way. It can already be found in Wikipedia with this comment: “Otrovert is a neologism coined by New York psychiatrist Rami Kaminski for a proposed personality style described in popular media as involving a persistent sense of being an outsider in group settings, even when the person is socially included, and a preference for selective, one-to-one connections over group affiliation.” This discovery led to researching the word, “neologism.”
Neologism, noun, ne·ol·o·gism: 1. a new word, usage, or expression 2. the introduction or use of new words or new senses of existing words 3. a new doctrine, especially a new interpretation of sacred writings
Origin and Etymology borrowed from Greek roots (neo- meaning “new” and logos meaning “word”) and from French néologisme “the habit of forming new words, a newly formed word,” from néologie “coining of new words” (from néo- neo- + -logie -logy) + -isme -ism
The word neologism is delightfully self-referential. It itself is a neologism. It’s one of the rare words that, at the moment of its coinage, perfectly described its own existence. It is a newborn word about newborn words!
American English had to steal a foreign word just to have a term for the act of inventing new words. There’s something wonderfully quirky about that.
First Known Use—1754
The English language is constantly picking up neologisms. In recent decades, social media has added several new terms to the language. Finsta, rizz, influencer, meme, and doomscroll are just a few examples of modern-day neologisms integrated into American English. The word neologism was itself a brand-new coinage in the latter half of the 18th century, when English speakers borrowed the French term néologisme, meaning both “the habit of forming new words” and “a newly formed word.” The French term, which comes from néologie, meaning “coining of new words,” comprises familiar elements: we recognize our own neo-, with various meanings relating to what is new, as in neoclassical, and -logy, meaning “oral or written expression,” as in trilogy.
Neologism used in a sentence on the web:
Are these neologisms diagnosing modern phenomena or illuminating preexisting cultural realities?—Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2025
Podcasts, newsletters, and Words of the Year have popularized neologisms, etymologies, and usage trends.—Stefan Fatsis, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2025
In spite of its phonetics, apparently the term is not Yiddish, but a neologism declared by a French writer of comedic phantasms to be German and intended to designate an absurd, unfathomable object that can serve all kinds of purposes.—Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Artforum, 1 June 2025
Please submit your favorite neologisms or any word you may like to share, along with your insights and comments, to dzapatka@wbhsi.net.