Eminem's Definition Of "Stan" Officially Added To Merriam-Webster Dictionary

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Recording artist Eminem performs onstage at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on April 13, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
Eminem's song has inspired one of the 640 new words added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

"Stan" is considered one of Eminem's best songs to many people. It's withstood the test of time and ultimately became a staple pop culture reference. Even though the song was released 19 years ago, the term "Stan" has been used to describe devout fans, although they don't necessarily have to be as enthusiastic as the fan Em rapped about on The Marshall Mathers LP. People have been using the word liberally over the years, especially since the social media takeover, but now, it's found its way into the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

"Stan" is officially a term in the dictionary. Merriam-Webster added the word with the other 639 words it added to its dictionary. The word is categorized as both a noun and a verb. The former is defined as "an extremely or excessively enthusiastic and devoted fan" while the verb is described as someone who stans, stanned or is stanning a celebrity figure. 

"From Stan, name of such a fan in the song "Stan" (2000) by the American rap artist Eminem (Marshall Bruce Mathers III)," reads the history and etymology of the term.

In other Em-related news, the rapper recently took to Instagram to celebrate 11-years of sobriety. The rapper shared an image of his sobriety coin with the caption, "11 years -- still not afraid" in reference to his single off of Recovery.


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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