Many of us have felt it, and now it’s official: “brain rot” is the Oxford dictionaries’ word of the year.
Oxford University Press revealed that in 2024, the term “brain rot” saw a significant surge in popularity, experiencing a 230% increase in its usage compared to the previous year.
The definition provided by Oxford for “brain rot” describes it as the perceived decline in an individual’s mental or intellectual capacity, often attributed to excessive consumption of content, especially online material, that is considered trivial or lacking in substance.
The word of the year is intended to be “a word or expression that reflects a defining theme from the past 12 months.”
The selection of “brain rot” as the notable phrase for the year was a result of a combination of public voting and linguistic analysis conducted by Oxford lexicographers. It emerged victorious over five other finalists, namely demure, slop, dynamic pricing, romantasy, and lore.
While it may seem a modern phenomenon, the first recorded use of “brain rot” was by Henry David Thoreau in his 1854 ode to the natural world, “Walden.”
Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl said that in its modern sense, “‘brain rot’ speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time.”
“It feels like a rightful next chapter in the cultural conversation about humanity and technology. It’s not surprising that so many voters embraced the term, endorsing it as our choice this year,” he said.
Last year’s Oxford word of the year was “rizz,” a riff on charisma, used to describe someone’s ability to attract or seduce another person.
Collins Dictionary’s 2024 word of the year is “brat” – the album title that became a summer-living ideal.
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