Oxford Word of the Year 2024

Every year, Oxford releases a word of the year. This annual tradition highlights a word or phrase that reflects the mood priorities of society over the past year, and trending words. It isn’t always a new word, but it’s often one that has gained popularity or taken on new meaning.

So, what is the Oxford Word of the Year 2024? 

 

What is the Word of the Year 2024?

For 2024, the Word of the Year is brain rot. This slang term refers to ‘the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media’. This choice for word of the year 2024 reflects a growing focus on the influence of the internet and digital culture on our mental health and daily lives. 

Oxford said that ‘the first recorded use of ‘brain rot’ was found in 1854’, however ‘the term increased in usage frequency by 230% between 2023 and 2024’. 

Previous Words of the Year 

In recent years, many words of the year have been heavily influenced by the internet, social media, and online behaviour. 

2023

• rizz (n)
  This word is short for charisma or charm. You can use it to describe someone’s ability to attract other people in a romantic way, or flirt (to behave in a way that shows you’re interested in someone) with them. 

2022

• goblin mode
  This means to be your laziest, messiest or most carefree (without worry) self. For example, wearing comfortable ‘lounge’ clothes all day, spending the day in bed scrolling (looking through) social media, or on the sofa binge-watching (watching back-to-back) shows. 

2021

• vax (n)
  This word is short for vaccination. This was the word of the year during the COVID-19 pandemic and reflected the global focus on vaccines during this time.

2020

• a report on words of the year
  2020 was a unique year. Instead of a single word, Oxford highlighted a collection of language related to the pandemic in a report on unprecedented words of the year. Some of the words and phrases included lockdown, pandemic, remote (related to work), BLM (black lives matter), and coronavirus. 

Word of the Year 2024 shortlist 

Although the winner was brain rot, there were many other words that were considered for word of the year 2024: 

 

• demure (adj)

This is an adjective that describes someone who is shy or not too ‘loud’ in how they act or dress. This became very popular because of a TikTok influencer, who said they were ‘very demure … very mindful’.

 

• dynamic pricing (n)

This refers to a pricing strategy where the cost of a product or service changes quickly based on market demands. For example, if lots of people are queuing online for Taylor Swift tickets, then the price of the tickets is likely to be higher than if there was no one waiting in line. 

 

• lore (n)

This means traditions and knowledge on a subject, passed down through stories. The term has been widely used in gaming and fan communities to describe the backstory of fictional universes.

 

• slop (n)

This describes low-quality, inaccurate online content, often generated (made) using artificial intelligence. 

 

• romantasy (n)

This word combines romance and fantasy. It refers to a type of fiction that has both romance and fantasy elements in them. 

 

Future words of the year 2025 and beyond

Looking ahead, it’s likely that future word of the year choices will continue to reflect the world’s growing relationship with technology. As things like artificial intelligence (AI) evolve, there are likely to be a lot more trending words related to this.

However, societal issues like climate change, mental health and identity may also play a role. It might be that words at the intersection of global challenges and personal experiences might come up in future lists. Watch this space! 

For more information on the evolution of language, check out this blog on Gen Z language. 

What do you think the Word of the Year should have been? Share your thoughts in the comments! 

 

Activity 

Choose the correct word or phrase to complete the sentence. 

1. I just love lore / romantasy / vax books. I love the concept of mixing two genres. 
2. Dynamic pricing / Slop / Brain rot for concert tickets really annoys me. They should all be the same price! 
3. She’s such a carefree / lockdown / rizz person. She never worries about anything. 
4. We spent all of Sunday brain rotting / demuring / binge-watching our favourite show on the sofa. 
5. Stop scrolling / loring / dynamic pricing through TikTok and you’ll have more time to do things!
6. My job is vax / rizz / remote so I don’t need to go into the office. 

 

Answers

1. romantasy
2. Dynamic pricing 
3. carefree 
4. binge-watching
5. scrolling 
6. remote

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Billie Jago is an ELT writer and teacher trainer specialising in digital learning materials and assessment resources. She has written for various well-known coursebooks, and writes items for high stakes exams such as the PTE, OTE, IELTS and Cambridge. Alongside materials writing, she delivers international teacher training sessions and is the founder of the ELTcpd professional development platform and YouTube channel. She is also the co-founder of the educational consultancy, OtterEducation.