lexicographer

On a recent weekday, the country’s leading legal lexicographer was ensconced among the 4,500 some-odd dictionaries that fill his Dallas home, revising the entry for the adjective “calculated” ahead of Black’s 13th Edition.

Yet among the book’s chastening details is this: Twenty years ago, there were some 200 full-time lexicographers in the U.S.; now there are “probably closer to thirty.”

Wood explained she had decided to apply after host Colin Murray appealed for older contestants, and lexicographer Susie Dent encouraged more female applications.

Brat was crowned Collins Dictionary word of the year earlier this month, with lexicographers defining it as someone with a "confident, independent and hedonistic attitude".

Collins' lexicographers, who put together their dictionaries, look at social media and other sources to determine which words should be added to their annual list of new and notable words.