2024’s Words of the Year

Fun FactsBlogging
Written By Xandra Kaste
2024's Words of the Year

It’s the holiday season, and no, I don’t mean Hanukkah, Christmas, or Diwali. No, it’s time to celebrate that most excellent time of year when all the dictionaries decide which word defined 2024. The evolution of language always tells a story, so these words of the year give unique insight into exactly how people feel this year went. 

From funny to serious, these are the words people searched for the most, said the most, or just fit the vibe in general. From “Brain Rot” to “Demure,” what word encapsulated 2024 in all its messiness?

Learn more about the origins of the word of the year here.

In This Article:

    Cambridge Dictionary

    Starting us off strong is the Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year: Manifest.

    Now manifest is in no way a new word; according to Cambridge Dictionary, manifest has eight meanings. The word of the year refers to a specific meaning, and if you’re in self-help circles, this is likely not a new one for you.

    Manifest

    (verb): to use methods such as visualization (= picturing something in your mind) and affirmation (= repeating positive phrases) to help you imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen.

    Cambridge chose manifest for a couple of reasons. First, the definition was looked up almost 130,000 times this year, which put it in the top-viewed words. It gained popularity as a “scientifically unproven practice” (Cambridge’s phrasing, not ours, so don’t manifest our downfall). 

    PFC’s examples

    • I’m manifesting another year of weird and interesting new words.

    • I shouldn’t have manifested that Google update.

    Fun fact

    The first documented use of the word manifest comes from Chaucer in 1380, when he said, “It is cleer and manyfest that it is propre to the devyne thought.”

    Shortlist

    • Brat

    • Ecotarian

    • Resilience

    Collins Dictionary

    Next up, we have the Collins Dictionary word of the year. Give a big round of applause to “brat.”

    Brat

    (adjective) informal characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.

    This word of the year is interesting because, while the word has been around since the 1400s, this definition was coined this year.

    Now, if you’re on a certain part of the internet, I wish you a very happy brat summer, fall, and winter. But if you’re wondering why this seemingly random word won out over “Yapping” and “Era,” it all comes down to one bright green album. Yes, Charli XCX’s 2024 album Brat became a cultural phenomenon, finally making it to number 1 in the UK with a star-studded remix album with the catchy title, brat and it’s completely different but also still brat.

    Beyond being a banger of an album, brat captured a moment where people leaned into a messy aesthetic and the ideal of living large even when the world might seem like it’s falling apart.

    PFC’s examples: 

    • With how hot the weather was, my brat summer involved bumping that in the privacy of my home.

    • All it takes to be brat is a cheap pair of sunglasses and attitude.

    Fun fact

    Brat wasn’t the only pop music-related word on this list. It beat out “Era,” which gained immense popularity from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

    Shortlist

    • Brainrot

    • Era

    • Looksmaxxing

    • Raw dogging

    • Anti-Tourism

    • Delulu

    • Romantasy

    • Supermajority

    • Yapping

    Macquarie Dictionary

    LANGUAGE WARNING. The Macquarie Dictionary is a specifically Australian dictionary, and they eloquently chose enshittification as their word of the year.

    Enshittification

    (noun) Colloquial the gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking

    The decision-making committee explained the word best: “A very basic Anglo-Saxon term wrapped in affixes which elevate it to being almost formal; almost respectable. This word captures what many of us feel is happening to the world and to so many aspects of our lives at the moment.” 

    PFC’s examples

    • Because of the enshittification of Google, I get AI answers to searches telling me to add glue to pizza.

    • Without high-quality content, every platform is susceptible to enshittification.

    Fun fact

    The term was invented by Cory Doctorow, a tech critic, specifically about online platforms: “Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die. I call this enshittification…”

    Shortlist

    • Right To Disconnect

    • Raw dogging

    • Brainrot 

    • Social Battery

    Merriam-Webster

    In a surprisingly unifying move, Merriam-Webster’s word of the year is polarization. 

    Polarization

    (Noun) division into two sharply distinct opposites

    especially : a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes.

    This word was used pretty equally along a very polarized political landscape, with candidates and news outlets along the political spectrum all coming together to agree that we’re very far apart.

    PFC examples

    • In a polarized world, everyone can somehow still come together to bully me for liking pineapple on pizza. (Best when paired with honey BBQ sauce.)

    • Our editorial team was polarized when we debated whether ‘email’ should be hyphenated, capitalized, or ceremoniously burned (psst this led to our breakout blog post on hyphenation.)

    Fun fact

    Polarization is a word that originated in the early 1800s to describe the behavior of light waves. However, the “Polar” part of polarization comes from the Latin polaris, describing the Earth’s poles and is another name for the North Star.

    Shortlist

    • Totality

    • Demure 

    • Fortnight 

    • Pander 

    • Resonate 

    • Allision

    • Weird 

    • Cognitive

    • Democracy 

    Oxford Dictionary

    Wait, what were we talking about? I got distracted by my phone, Subway Surfers, and videos of people jumping on platforms in Minecraft. Oh yes, the Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year was “Brain Rot.”

    Brain Rot

    (n.) Supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as a result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration.

    This one goes out to everyone who has ever awoken from a two-hour TikTok binge to ask yourself, was any of that worth my time, and is that liquid coming out of my ears my brain?

    PFC examples

    • Sometimes, it’s fun to indulge in some brain rot after a long day of work.

    • Whenever I watch a movie, I have to be strong and not watch brain rot on the small screen.

    Fun fact

    While brain rot may feel like a very modern problem, it turns out people have been melting their brains for a long while now. Apparently, the first recorded use of “brain rot” was in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden from 1854: “While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot, will not any endeavor to cure the brain-rot, which prevails so much more widely and fatally.”

    Shortlist

    • demure

    • dynamic pricing

    • lore

    • romantasy

    • slop

    What’s Your Word of the Year?

    One thing is sure: we as a population have become even more terminally online. If you didn’t spend the year lurking around Instagram, Reddit, or TikTok (or whatever else the kids are using), you may not have heard of any of these words. But it is fun to watch words be created and popularized so quickly, and as always, the words of the year tell us much about the state of the world.

    But enough about that, what’s your favorite word of the year?