The votes are in.
Last month, on Nov. 14, Oxford University Press narrowed a list down to six words and the world had the opportunity to vote for its favorite.
Language experts from the publishing house of the University of Oxford said they considered corpus data, the number of votes, and public commentary, before making their selection.
After tallying more than 37,000 votes from around the globe, the company on Monday announced the 2024 Oxford Word of The Year: “brain rot.”
A noun, ‘brain rot’ is defined as assumed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material − particularly online content − considered to be trivial or unchallenging.
It is also defined as “something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration,” Oxford announced in a news release.
“‘Brain rot’ speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time,” 4, Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages said. “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.”
The term has evolved since its first recorded use in American writer Henry David Thoreau’s book “Walden” which reports his experiences of living a simple lifestyle in the natural world, Oxford notes.
Thoreau wrote: “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?”
As part of his conclusions, Oxford wrote, “Thoreau criticizes society’s tendency to devalue complex ideas, or those that can be interpreted in multiple ways, in favour of simple ones. He sees this as indicative of a general decline in mental and intellectual effort, leading him to ask the question.”
Adopted by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, it gained new prominence in 2024, according to Oxford, as a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of “low-quality online content,” especially via social media.
“‘Brain rot’speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time,” Oxford wrote in the release. “It feels like a rightful next chapter in the cultural conversation about humanity and technology.”
“There’s an anxiety coming through about striking the right balance between the online world and losing touch with the real world,” said Katherine Martin, product director for Oxford Languages. “I think it’s great that young people also use this term to refer to the type of language used by people who overindulge in online content, which is wonderfully recursive and self-referential.”
What were the other words contending for the 2024 Oxford Word of the Year?
In addition to ‘brain rot’ the following five words were found by Oxford University Press experts to have gained a spike in usage and prominence this year. The shortlist definitions were provided by Oxford.
Lore
Noun: “A body of (supposed) facts, background information, and anecdotes relating to someone or something, regarded as knowledge required for full understanding or informed discussion of the subject in question.”
Demure
Adjecttive “Of a person: reserved or restrained in appearance or behavior. Of clothing: not showy, ostentatious, or overly revealing.”
“Demure” was also officially named Dictionary.com’s word of the year for 2024. TikTok star Jools Lebron is responsible for its virality this year.
Dynamic pricing
Noun: “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.”
Slop
Noun: “Art, writing, or other content generated using artificial intelligence, shared and distributed online in an indiscriminate or intrusive way, and characterized as being of low quality, inauthentic, or inaccurate.”
Romantasy
Noun: “A genre of fiction combining elements of romantic fiction and fantasy, typically featuring themes of magic, the supernatural, or adventure alongside a central romantic storyline.”
What was Oxford’s word of the year in 2023?
The Oxford Word of the Year for 2023 was rizz, understood as short for “charisma”
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.