Leftists have been attempting to redefine the terms “male” and “female” for years now, but in a troubling development, Merriam-Webster is now following suit.
As noted by Not the Bee, the definition of the word “female” in the online version of the venerable dictionary has been changed to include “having a gender identity that is the opposite of male.”
The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh, whose recent documentary “What Is a Woman?” addressed this very topic, noted the change on Twitter.
“It was bound to happen,” Walsh wrote Tuesday. “Merriam-Webster has changed its dictionary definition of ‘female’ to appease the trans activists.”
It was bound to happen. Merriam-Webster has changed its dictionary definition of “female” to appease the trans activists. pic.twitter.com/qWnslvPjSd
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 19, 2022
The first definition remained as traditionally understood. It described female as “of, relating to, or being the sex that typically has the capacity to bear young or produce eggs.”
However, the new definition appeared as the second entry.
Even though these two definitions are inherently different from one another, Merriam-Webster added the second one in an apparent attempt to please leftist transgender activists.
A similar change was also made to the definition of “male,” which now says ” having a gender identity that is the opposite of female.”
As of Thursday, Merriam-Webster still defined “woman” as “an adult female person.” However, if the definition of “female” is now subject to the whims of gender politics, it seems likely that “woman” will get a new definition, too.
In fact, the word “girl” has received a new secondary definition: “a person whose gender identity is female.”
Merriam-Webster also changed the definition of the word girl pic.twitter.com/5wkPcD9yJA
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 19, 2022
The same is true of “boy,” now defined as “a child whose gender identity is male.”
The Western Journal reached out to Merriam-Webster for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
In a subsequent tweet, Walsh pointed out the new definition of “female” seemed to conflict with previous rhetoric from the left.
“Never mind that the trans activists have always insisted that sex and ‘gender identity’ are two different things,” he wrote. “If they can rewrite the dictionary then they can certainly redefine their own made up jargon as they please.”
Never mind that the trans activists have always insisted that sex and “gender identity” are two different things. If they can rewrite the dictionary then they can certainly redefine their own made up jargon as they please.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 19, 2022
The Pew Research Center reported on June 7 that just 2 percent of Americans ages 18-29 said they were transgender and an additional 3 percent said they were nonbinary. Among adults of all ages, just 0.6 percent said they were transgender.
The findings were based on a poll conducted May 16-22 with 10,188 respondents. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
Based on these findings, Merriam-Webster changed its definition to accommodate at most 2 percent of Americans, and likely less.
Of course, the decision was also made to appease leftists who are not transgender but wish to push a trans agenda onto the rest of us.
This is not the first time Merriam-Webster has bowed to the woke mob.
When the publishing company added “antifa” to its dictionary in March 2018, the definition was “a person or group actively opposing fascism or an anti-fascist movement,” according to Time.
The definition curiously omitted any mention of crime or communism, and Time even linked to a separate article for a “more in-depth explanation” that said antifa groups often engage in extreme vandalism and other forms of violence.
Merriam-Webster also changed the definition of “anti-vaxxer” to include not only people who are opposed to vaccines but also those who oppose “regulations mandating vaccination.”
Of course, there are plenty of people who are not inherently against vaccines but are against mandates forcing people to get vaccines.
In the end, Merriam-Webster’s willingness to bow to leftists only adds fuel to their deranged ideas, which is bad news for anyone who believes in objective truth.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
