Post-truth: Oxford Dictionary name the word of the year

"Post-truth" has been named as Oxford Dictionary's word of the year.

Use of the adjective has spiked following the Brexit result and Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

It means emotions and personal beliefs are more influential than facts, and has increased by around 2,000% since this time last year, according to research.

The word has been in existence for over two decades, but its rise has coincided with "political and social discourse".

Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Dictionaries, 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 picked from a shortlist that included "Brexiteer" - a supporter of the EU referendum's Leave campaign - and "hygge" - a cosiness associated with the contentment in Danish culture.

Previous winners include "omnishambles" in 2012, "big society" in 2010 and last year's controversial "face with tears of joy" emoji.