BENDING the facts, deceipt and straight-up lying in UK and US politics has led Oxford Dictionaries to declare today that its Word of the Year for 2016 is... "post-truth".

During the UK EU referendum campaign and the US election, the dictionaries, based at Oxford University Press in Walton Street, says use of the word post-truth has increased approximately 2,000 per cent on its usage in 2015.

The dictionaries said the 'concept of post-truth' has bee in existence for over a decade but usage rocketed in association with the phrase 'post-truth politics'.

Dictionaries president Casper Grathwohl said: "It’s not surprising that our choice reflects a year dominated by highly-charged political and social discourse.

"Fuelled by the rise of social media as a news source and a growing distrust of facts offered up by the establishment, post-truth as a concept has been finding its linguistic footing for some time.

"We first saw the frequency really spike this year in June with buzz over the Brexit vote and again in July when Donald Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination.

"Given that usage of the term hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down, I wouldn’t be surprised if post-truth becomes one of the defining words of our time."

The word was chosen over nine others which made this year's shortlist:

adulting noun, informal The practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible adult, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks.

alt-right noun An ideological grouping associated with extreme conservative or reactionary viewpoints, characterized by a rejection of mainstream politics and by the use of online media to disseminate deliberately controversial content. Brexiteer noun, informal A person who is in favour of the United Kingdom withdrawing from the European Union.

chatbot noun A computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, especially over the Internet.

coulrophobia noun Extreme or irrational fear of clowns glass cliff noun Used with reference to a situation in which a woman or member of a minority group ascends to a leadership position in challenging circumstances where the risk of failure is high.

hygge noun A quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture).

Latinx noun A person of Latin American origin or descent (used as a gender-neutral or non-binary alternative to Latino or Latina).

woke adjective, US informal [originally in African-American usage] Alert to injustice in society, especially racism.

Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year is a word or expression chosen to reflect the passing year in language.

Every year, the dictionaries team reviews candidates then debates their merits, choosing one that captures the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of that particular year.