The Van Dale dictionary company has abandoned this year’s “word of the year” competition because of the reactions to the shortlist on social media and has instead opted for polarisatie.

Pieperaanval, a reference to the exploding pagers in Lebanon, and transitiespijt, or regret about transitioning to a different gender, generated the most extreme messages from both the left and right, the publisher said.

“The response has been much more extreme than in recent years,” the publishing house said in a reaction. “The vote has been kidnapped by various campaign groups who are calling on people not to vote for certain words. The messaging around these words has turned into a very unpleasant discussion, far removed from the aims of the election.”

Every year Van Dale nominates a short-list of 10 words for the public vote.

This year’s shortlist included the words AI-washing, beknibbelflatie, burn-outbureaucratie, comfortwater, gen Z-stagiair, koeltekloof, pieperaanval, profnar, sjoemelscooter and transitiespijt.

The dictionary group said it has opted for polarisatie because of the “extreme reactions to this year’s vote, which illustrates the spirit of the times”. The Belgian vote will go ahead.