These are words that helped to shape 2017

2017 could hardly be thought of as a year that came and went. Starting the year with a historic inauguration and ending on what's being heralded as a watershed moment for women sharing their #MeToo moments, 2017 was a time of tremendous change.

The year brought a new president, and with him, a new first family and administration. To many, the inauguration served as a welcome change to the past eight years of the Obama administration. To others, it was a repudiation of the values they hold strong. Those that did not agree with the president saw themselves as the Resistance -- a group willing to stand up for causes, rights and systems they believed in.

The further political polarization of America ushered in a new vernacular, where words that once laid outside the spectrum soon entered the fold, becoming identifiers with what your positions were on anything from what newspaper you read to who you voted for.

Below, we've broken down the six words that have shaped the year, with definitions according to Merriam Webster:

%shareLinks-quote="To exert oneself so as to counteract or defeat" type="definition" word="Resist" partofspeech="verb"%

RESIST: This verb became a way of life for those who did not see themselves in Trump's America, or as those who didn't believe in Trump's campaign promise to Make America Great Again -- because they felt it already was.

These members of the Resistance, as they called themselves, took to the streets to protest the politics and policies of the 45th president. They worked to make their voices loud and clear, their message unwavering, despite the uphill climb they faced.

%shareLinks-quote="Helping to commit a crime or do wrong in some way" type="definition" word="Complicit" partofspeech="adjective"%

COMPLICIT: Some accused the Trump family, namely Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, of being complicit in the president's actions.

When asked in an interview with "CBS This Morning" if this was the case, the first daughter told Gayle King, "If being complicit is wanting to be a force for good and to make a positive impact, then I’m complicit.”

She then added, “I don’t know what it means to be complicit.”

The word became so pervasive -- used to describe anyone from former EPA chief Scott Pruitt to the Hollywood elite accused of brushing decades-long harassment claims under the rug -- that Dictionary.com dubbed it the word of the year.

%shareLinks-quote="Accused but not proven or convicted" type="definition" word="Alleged" partofspeech="adjective"%

ALLEGED: The sexual misconduct claims levied against men in high-profile positions dominated the headlines in the latter half of 2017. The stories of accusers brave enough to come forward and share their experiences rocked the nation and led to the demise of some of the most powerful figures in media, entertainment, politics and beyond.

Make no mistake, alleged does not diminish these men and women's accounts of what may have transpired.

%shareLinks-quote="Falsely or improperly so named" type="definition" word="So-called" partofspeech="adjective"%

SO-CALLED: In what might have become one of the year's most unlikely insults, Trump harped on this phrase to attack a judge who ruled against his travel ban and question the purpose of the Russia investigation. In using this word, he appears to be undermining the legitimacy of those who speak or go against his wishes.

Here are some other things that have earned the descriptor, according to Donald Trump:

%shareLinks-quote="Those ones. Used as third person pronoun serving as the plural of he, she, or it or referring to a group of two or more individuals not all of the same sex" type="definition" word="They" partofspeech="noun"%

THEY: When Steve Bannon attended a rally in Fairhope, Alabama, to support the special election of Judge Roy Moore on December 5, he addressed a crowd of supporters who still stand behind the embattled candidate, validating their choice and putting them at odds with those who vilified him.

"They want to destroy Judge Roy Moore and you know why?" Bannon asked at the rally. "They want to take your voice away."

The former White House adviser made it clear that there weren't only two sides to this Senate race -- there were only two different types of people in this world. Us and them. We and they.

This type of rhetoric also came into play a handful of times this year -- in the protests that transpired in Charlottesville, Va., the Women's March, the NFL anthem protests and beyond.

%shareLinks-quote="The quality or state or an instance of being unswerving in allegiance" type="definition" word="loyalty" partofspeech="noun"%

LOYALTY: The president's unwavering demand for loyalty is by now well known. James Comey, former FBI director, found himself caught in the crosshairs of this demand, which he recounted to the Senate Intelligence Committee in June.

In a now-public exchange, Trump had dinner with Comey on January 27, where they discussed whether Comey would like to stay in his then-role as FBI director.

"I need loyalty," Comey recounted the president telling him at the end of their dinner.

Comey replied, "You will always get honesty from me."

READ: James Comey's full prepared remarks for his Senate Intel Committee hearing testimony

But even the aides who Trump has fired -- namely Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie -- say the president is equally loyal to those who adhered to his pledge.