More than 37,000 people have voted in a public vote to decide the Oxford Word of the Year.
‘Brain rot’ won out from a shortlist of six picked by language experts to reflect the moods and conversations that have helped shape the past year.
‘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”.
It has gained new prominence this year as a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media. The term increased in usage frequency by 230 per cent between 2023 and 2024.
The first recorded use of ‘brain rot’ was found in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden, which reports his experiences of living a simple lifestyle in the natural world. As part of his conclusions, Thoreau criticizes society’s tendency to devalue complex ideas, or those that can be interpreted in multiple ways, in favour of simple ones, and sees this as indicative of a general decline in mental and intellectual effort: “While England endeavours to cure the potato rot, will not any endeavour to cure the brain-rot – which prevails so much more widely and fatally?”
The term has taken on new significance in the digital age, especially over the past 12 months. Initially gaining traction on social media platform—particularly on TikTok among Gen Z and Gen Alpha communities—’brain rot’ is now seeing more widespread use, such as in mainstream journalism, amidst societal concerns about the negative impact of overconsuming online content.
We’re taking a look at the winner, the shortlisted words for 2024 and the last five words to win in previous years. How many do you use?
1. Brain Rot
The winner of the Oxford Word of 2024 is brain rot. Defined as "the supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material considered to be trivial or unchallenging", it's particularly relevant when it comes to online content consumed on our ever-present smartphones. | Canva/Getty Images
2. Lore
"A body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or held by a particular group, typically passed from person to person by word of mouth." It's modern usage often relates to computer games and online gamer communities. It was one of this year's runners-up. | Canva/Getty Images
3. Dynamic pricing
Defined as "the practice of varying the price for a product or service to reflect changing market conditions, in particular the charging of a higher price at a time of greater demand", dynamic pricing hit the headlines this year when it meant tickets for the Oasis reunion shot up in price shortly after going onsale. It was pipped to the post by brain rot. | Getty Images
4. Demure
Another runner-up, 2024's 'very demure, very mindful KitTok trend was started by American influencer Jools Lebron (pictured). A fairly old-fashioned word given a new lease of life, it means "reserved, modest, and shy". | Getty Images