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gaslighting

A 1944 film title that spent fifty years as a niche clinical metaphor, then went from therapy rooms to Word of the Year inside a decade once politics and social media picked it up.

1950 to 2026, 4 sources

Gestation: first sustained attestation to ignition (ngram)GestationCrystallization: ignition to peak (ngram)Ignition 2016: first crossing of 10% of peak with sustained growth (ngram)Ignition 2016Peak 2022: maximum of smoothed series (ngram)Peak 20220%25%50%75%100%19501960197019801990200020102020Logistic fit1961: First recorded verb use (OED)2005-08-18: Wikipedia article created ("Gaslighting")2007: Robin Stern, The Gaslight Effect2016-12-10: Teen Vogue: 'Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America'2022: Merriam-Webster Word of the Year (1,740% search spike)

Diamonds are dated events from the historical record. Click one.

Gestation 1950 to 2016Crystallization 2016 to 2022

Measured on Google Books

Growth rate k
0.848/yr
Rise midpoint
2018
Fit quality r²
0.978
Post-peak half-life
still on the plateau

The dated record

  1. 1944 Cukor's Gaslight (MGM)media
  2. 1961 First recorded verb use (OED)dictionary
  3. 2005-08-18 Wikipedia article created ("Gaslighting")platform
  4. 2007 Robin Stern, The Gaslight Effectbook
  5. 2016-12-10 Teen Vogue: 'Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America'media
  6. 2022 Merriam-Webster Word of the Year (1,740% search spike)dictionary