Google’s 10 most searched words in 2022: Wordle, World Cup and Queen Elizabeth among top search terms

Google has published its results for the top searches for 2022 with Wordle, Queen Elizabeth and World Cup making the list.
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Google has released a list of its most searched words in 2022 and Wordle has topped the charts for this year. The search engine’s chiefs published the results of its annual ‘year in search’ which breaks down the most common terms entered,into categories including news, people and sports, with the New York Times’ word game coming out on top overall.

The Google results showed people were searching for Wordle even more than ‘Queen Elizabeth’ following her death and ‘Ukraine’ despite the ongoing war. The daily word game soared in popularity after it was released at the end of last year and Google has even referred to it ‘as a way of life for some people’ in a recent statement.

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Wordle has also dominated Google’s charts elsewhere with seven of the 10 top searched-for word definitions in 2022 being Wordle answers, including canny, foray, tacit, saute, trove and cacao. Wordle was formed in 2021 by software engineer Josh Wardle who says he created it to keep himself and his partner busy during the Covid pandemic.

Even the global hype of the ongoing World Cup happening in Qatar right now couldn’t topple the word game from the top spot. Here’s the full list of the top Google searches in the UK this year.

Google has released its top 10 searches for 2022Google has released its top 10 searches for 2022
Google has released its top 10 searches for 2022

The UK’s top Google searches 2022

Wordle

World Cup

Queen Elizabeth

Ukraine

Lateral flow test

Mason Greenwood

Russia

Quordle

Jeffrey Dahmer

Johnny Depp

The top global Google searches 2022

Wordle

India vs England

Ukraine

Queen Elizabeth

Ind vs SA

In addition to the overall top Google searches, Johnny Depp came in at number one for the most searched actor after making the headlines for his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Herd.  Will Smith and Chris Rock are also in the top five following their fallout at this year’s Academy Awards.

Smith slapped the comedian onstage in front of millions after making a remark towards his wife Jada Pinkett Smith – who also makes it inside the top five. He faced a backlash for his actions and made an apology to Rock just days after the Hollywood altercation.

Netflix’s Stranger Things was the most searched TV show of the year, according to Google, followed by The Watcher and Stay Close.