The word of the year in 2020 was Lockdown, in 2019 it was Climate Strike. Go back further and in 2010 it was Vuvuzela – those were the noisy instruments loved by football fans at the World Cup in South Africa.

But what will it be in 2021? We are now halfway through the year, and there are plenty of contenders already. There can be many to choose from, with dictionaries, publishers and other organizations all coming up with their own favorites.

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So it is a subjective choice, but it is generally a word that has defined a cultural or political trend of the year.

With the pandemic continuing to dominate life around the world it seems likely that by the end of the year it will also dominate the word of the year selections – Vaccine perhaps, if all's going well, or Variant, if things are not looking so good?

Maybe it will be Unlocking, or maybe it will have nothing to do with COVID-19 and some other trend or event is poised to dominate the second half of the year. Could it be Decarbonization, with the big climate conferences due to be held?

Watch the video above, edited by James Sandifer, to see some of the options at the half-year mark.