Post-truth is a periodizing concept referring to a transnational and historically specific, empirically observable public anxiety about public truth claims and authority to be a legitimate public truth-teller.[1] It also refers to the theories about the historically specific converging causes that have produced its communication forms and effects.[2] The term was named Word of the Year in 2016 by the Oxford Dictionary where it is defined as "Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief".[3][4] As Oxford dictionaries' web page on post-truth explains, the term's use spiked with reference to the communication context in the period around the 2016 United States presidential election and the Brexit referendum. Oxford dictionaries further notes that post-truth was often used as an adjective to signal a distinctive kind of politics – post-truth politics.[5] It continues to be used frequently in this regard.