OAKLAND, Calif., March 24, 2016 – Dictionary.com, the leading online and mobile resource dedicated to helping users master the art of language, today released Your College in a Word, the most popular definitions searched at colleges and universities from coast to coast. The list includes top-seeded NCAA March Madness schools, the Ivy League, and campuses in New England, Massachusetts, and Texas.
“From putting polishing touches on final papers to finding the perfect adjective to describe a Friday night party, college students are looking up words that run the gamut from lighthearted to more serious topics,” said Elizabeth McMillan, CEO of Dictionary.com. “These words illuminate the different culture or issues that surround each specific campus, from an Ivy League’s frequent search of the word ‘fat’ to Duke University’s more obscure word, ‘encomium.’”
Dictionary.com’s list of most searched words at colleges are:
Baylor University: phlegmatic
Boston College: irascibly
Boston University: measurement
Brown University: trust
Columbia University: barter
Cornell University: amiable
Dartmouth College: bare
DePaul University: wreaking
Duke University: encomium
Gonzaga University: last
Harvard University: fat
Indiana University Bloomington: comport
Iowa State University: photoautotroph
Northeastern University: metaphor
Princeton University: abode
Providence College: contender
Rice University: hopeful
Sam Houston State University: environment
Smith College: sparkle
Southern Methodist University: godspeed
Texas A&M University: computer
Texas State University: utilitarianism
Tufts College: onomatopoeia
University of Houston: ethics
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign: imperative
University of Kansas: precipitation
University of Maryland, College Park: exigence
University of Miami: historical novels
University of New Hampshire: awesome
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: chagrined
University of Notre Dame: judeo-christian
University of Oklahoma: hydrate
University of Oregon: hurricane
University of Pennsylvania: niche
University of Texas: masochist
University of Vermont: knowledge
University of Virginia: reprisal
University of Wisconsin-Madison: physique
Villanova University: ambivalent
Wellesley College: dissolve
Yale University: ambiguous
Data for Your College in a Word was determined through zip code matches to search data in 2015. To inquire about the most frequently searched word at a specific university, contact nikki@dottedlinecomm.com.
About Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com, an IAC (NASDAQ: IAC) company, is the world’s leading, definitive online and mobile resource dedicated to helping people master the art of language. We provide tens of millions of global monthly users with reliable access to millions of definitions, synonyms, audio pronunciations, example sentences, translations and spelling help through our services at Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com. Our leading mobile applications for reference and education have been downloaded more than 100 million times.