The 10 most-frequently looked-up words and their definitions, according to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary site:
1. Integrity - Firm adherence to a code, especially moral
or artistic values; incorruptibility.
2. Refugee - One that flees; especially a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution.
3. Contempt - Wilful disobedience to or open disrespect
of a court, judge or legislative body.
4. Filibuster - The use of extreme dilatory tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action, especially in a
5. Insipid - Lacking in qualities that interest, stimulate or
challenge; dull, flat.
6. Tsunami - A great sea wave produced especially by submarine earth movement or volcanic eruption.
7. Pandemic - Occurring over a wide geographic area
and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population.
8. Conclave - A private meeting or secret assembly, especially a meeting of Roman Catholic cardinals
secluded continuously while choosing a pope.
9. Levee - An embankment for preventing flooding; a continuous dike or ridge (as of earth) for confining the irrigation areas of land to be flooded.
10. Inept - Generally incompetent; bungling.