Each year, language proves its endless adaptability, adding new words and new meanings to existing words that reflect our ever-evolving lives. Each year brings with it new trends and thus new words we loved in the last fifty or so weeks.

Born of cultural shifts, technological advances, or social trends, these words are snapshots of the times we live in. They bridge generational gaps, spark debates, and sometimes leave us scratching our heads wondering, “How did we live without this word?”

This year’s linguistic harvest includes everything from playful slang to terms that address serious global phenomena. As always, when I have to pick a few words out of the many, it was tough, but I somehow limited myself to just 13, despite being tempted by others, like “porch piracy,” “barbiecon,” “ecotarian,” “greenager,” “romantasy,” and “shower orange!”

But I assure you that no matter if you’re deciphering teen lingo or marveling at how tech or trends or global outlooks inspire new vocabulary, there’s something for everyone in this year’s list of words we loved!

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For the Thursday Thirteen meme that I love to join in whenever I can!

13 Words We Loved in 2024

1. Boop

Boop made it into the Cambridge dictionary this year – one of 3200 words added to it (along with ‘the ick’ below).

I love the sound of it, and how it kind of means what it sounds like! Boop is defined as “a playful, gentle touch, especially on the nose, often accompanied by a vocalized ‘boop’ sound, typically used in affectionate or humorous contexts” (source).

The term gained traction in social media, particularly in pet videos and memes, symbolizing simple, wholesome connections that resonate across all age groups.

And couldn’t resist including this read for you, simply titled Boop!

2. Brain Rot

This is the Oxford University Press’s word of the year, from a list of six finalists.

Brain rot is defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the 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” (source)

I totally feel like the whole world is sliding into brain rot, and to avoid this, we need to touch grass more often (see the last one on this list for more on the same). Brain rot has gained more use this past year(s) for it describes the effects of hyper-engagement with social media, video games, various online material, fandoms, trends, or similar, mirroring the downside of digital escapism.

Read Thoreau’s Walden where you can see an early use of the word – in 1854! (you can also read it online at the InternetArchive)

3. Brat

This is Collins’ WOTY, and while it has been around for a while, and used in the context of a spoilt, misbehaved child, Charli XCX album of the same name inspired its new definition (and hence position as WOTY here) as “characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude” (source).

This term’s new meaning and resurgence shows the impact of entertainment and media in our lives, and makes the appearance of brain rot even less surprising.

Have a listen to the Charli XCX album (one I heard of and listened to, thanks to my daughter!)

4. Demure

Dictionary.com’s WOTY is demure, and while the traditional meaning refers to those who are reserved, modest, and shy, this year’s updated definition is to “describe refined and sophisticated appearance or behavior in various contexts,” mostly in the public eye (source).

This trend follows the post-COVID and more recent return to work environments, where people are almost relearning how to fit in back in work and other social environments after years of remote/hybrid work atmosphere.

As libraries around the US embrace the ‘very demure, very mindful’ trend that made demure the WOTY, I bring to you a few such reads as well!

• The Book of Delights by Ross Gay (Essays). Any book from Ross Gay makes it to my TBR automatically, and loved as well! this one is no different.
• Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners by Laurie Keller (Picture book , 3-7 years, and up). Love the punny name, and well, everything else about it too.
• Modern Etiquette Made Easy: A Five-Step Method to Mastering Etiquette by Myka Meier (Self-help). A humorous and helpful look at etiquette and how to get better at it.
• Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May (Self-help). A beautiful read so far.

5. Enshittification

Chosen by the Macquarie Dictionary (Australia) as its WOTY, enshittification refers to “the gradual degradation of services or platforms as companies prioritize profit over user experience” (source). Of course, this is something many of us have experienced in one way or the other, and more recently, with more regularity too.

Coined by Cory Doctorow, this term has become sort of a rallying cry against declining digital platform quality, and against all the slop (see later in the list!)

6. Greedflation

A couple of years ago, I had shrinkflation on my list. Greedflation is pretty similar and was added to Dictionary.com this year. Collins Dictionary defines it as

• “the use of inflation as an excuse to raise prices to artificially high levels in order to increase corporate profits”
• “an increase in the price of goods and services caused by businesses increasing their prices by more than their costs have risen” (source)

This is prime example of corporate greed, hence ‘greedflation.’

7. The ick

Everyone has felt ‘the ick’ at some point in their life, for someone or something. Cambridge Dictionary added this in 2024 and defines it as “a sudden feeling that you dislike someone or something or are no longer attracted to someone because of something they do” (source).

As in “get the ick If you suddenly get the ick, you don’t have to act on it straight away and break up with the person.

8. Manifest

Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year is manifest, and I love this word for its inherent power. With recent upheavals globally (including the pandemic, #metoo, economic uncertainities, political divides, wars, and general unrest), the need to manifest good things has risen.

Cambridge dictionary defines it as “to use methods such as visualization and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen” (source).

Manifesting is certainly a staple part of self-help and goal-setting movements, a subtle symbol of empowerment. Affirmations, anyone?

9. Mog

I was trying to choose between ‘drip’ and ‘mog’ – two slang terms used by Gen Z, and asked my teenager which one I should include in this list of 13. ‘ Mogging” someone means that you look better than them. It developed into a viral trend this year on tik tok (source).

10. Polarization

This one is Merriam-Webster’s 2024 WOTY and defined as  “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” (source).

This one makes sense, considering the recent political, social, and cultural divides, and thus effectively captured that contentious feeling everywhere.

11. Resilience

On the other side of that divide, the one that lets us stay strong in the face of all these societal extremes, is resilience. Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from adversity or challenges (source), and I know I have seen it a lot this year around the internet and on social media (along with manifestation).

While manifest edged out as Cambridge’s WOTY (source), resilience stood its ground well, was resilient, so to speak!

12. Slop

Slop was on the Oxford shortlist for WOTY, and while it has been used to refer to messy, low-quality content, often overproduced or devoid of substance since the nineteenth century (think penny novels or such, though I know I have enjoyed many such reads!), the current reclaimed definition refers to “AI produced inaccurate or low-quality content that is also shared indiscriminately” (source).

13. Touch Grass

This is one of the terms that made it into the dictionary (Merriam-Webster) this year. This trending phrase encourages one “to participate in normal activities in the real world, as opposed to online and digital or virtual experiences and interactions” (source). This one will definitely help avoid/reduce brain rot.

I talked about incorporating barefoot grounding as one of 13 tiny habits to add to my routine as part of last year’s (I mean 2023) resolutions. So literally touching grass is something I tried to do (though not everyday, but often times over the past couple of years). Plus, found this book titled Touch Grass (not a joke, but an anthology resulting from a writing competition).

Related Reads and More

• 13 Cool Words of the Year: Both Old and New (from 2022)
• I loved this look at the words of the year by Tony Thorne over at The Conversation.

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, which of these words are your favorites? Which ones would be on your list? Share your thoughts in the comments!