Dictionary.com names 'xenophobia' its word of the year

Dictionary.com designates 'xenophobia' its '2016 Word of the Year', correlating with a mass surge in searches of the word, according to data.

Members of Houghton Methodist Church in Johannesburg hold an anti-xenophobia march in South Africa in April 2015 following violent attacks on foreign nationals Source: AAP

Dictionary.com has named 'xenophobia' its 2016 Word of the Year, after its data showed a surge in searches since April 2015 for the word.

The site defines Xenophobia as “fear or hatred of foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers".

"This particular year saw fear rise to the surface of cultural discourse," the company said in a statement to explain the increase use of the word.

Trending data shows the largest spike in searches – a 938 per cent increase – occurred on June 24, 2016 when the UK voted to leave the European Union, referred to as 'Brexit'.

Another event was connected to increased searches for the definition of 'xenophobia': the US presidential election.

This included when outgoing Democrat president Barack Obama said on June 29 that the political rhetoric of Donald Trump, then-Republican presidential candidate, now-president elect, was better described as "nativism or xenophobia" than "populism".

Dictionary.com also cites a spike in 'xenophobia' word searches during a spate of attacks against migrant workers in South Africa, which began in April 2015.

Oxford Dictionaries named 'post-truth' its word of the year.