SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) – With no end to the controversy over the war in Iraq and plenty of political wrangling and scandal in this midterm election year, thousands of people were left trying to get to the truthiness of the matter.

That’s right. The truthiness.

Coined and defined by Comedy Central’s satirical political commentator Stephen Colbert as “truth that comes from the gut, not books,” the word “truthiness” best sums up 2006, according to an online survey by Springfield dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster.

Once derided by Colbert as the “word police” and a bunch of “wordinistas,” the folks at Merriam-Webster fully embrace his peculiar term, even if it can’t be found in the pages of their dictionary.

“We’re at a point where what constitutes truth is a question on a lot of people’s minds, and truth has become up for grabs,” said John Morse, Merriam-Webster’s president.

“‘Truthiness’ is a playful way for us to think about a very important issue.”

Although the company won’t say exactly how many people voted because of proprietary reasons, Morse said the Web site received tens of thousands of responses from people who answered the question, “What word do you think sums up the year?”

Words like “war,” “insurgent,” “sectarian” and “corruption” all made the Top 10 list, showing that Iraq and politics were very much on people’s minds.

But “truthiness” was the clear favorite, winning by a five-to-one margin, Morse said.

And winning, it seems, pleases Colbert.

“Though I’m no fan of reference books and their fact-based agendas, I am a fan of anyone who chooses to honor me,” he said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. “And what an honor. Truthiness now joins the lexicographical pantheon with words like “squash,’ “merry,’ “crumpet,’ “the,’ “xylophone,’ “circuitous,’ “others,’ and others.”

Colbert first uttered “truthiness” during an October 2005 broadcast of “The Colbert Report” – his parody of combative, conservative talk shows – and introduced a new word that has enjoyed some time in the spotlight.

The American Dialect Society picked it as their 2005 Word of the Year. And when an AP story about that choice failed to credit Colbert for coining the word, he reacted with a tongue-in-cheek attack on the news organization that he called the “No. 1 threat facing America.”

Merriam-Webster has flagged at least two occasions – in the New York Review of Books and Time magazine – where “truthiness” has been used without making any reference to Colbert.

But that doesn’t mean the wordinistas of the world believe “truthiness” has guaranteed staying power.

“I’m a little dubious about whether ‘truthiness’ will last for a long time,” said Allan Metcalf, the executive secretary of the American Dialect Society and an English professor at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill.

The problem is twofold: the word may be too closely tied to a celebrity, and it’s exact meaning isn’t immediately clear, he said. While Merriam-Webster has no plans to add “truthiness” to their books, Morse said that could change if the word persists.

“We won’t really know if it was just a fad until you pick up a Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2026 and see if it’s in there,” Metcalf said. “We very well may have dropped ‘truthiness’ by then.”