LONDON โ Many of us have felt it, and now itโs official: โbrain rotโ is the Oxford dictionariesโ word of the year.
Oxford University Press said Monday that the evocative phrase โgained new prominence in 2024,โ with its frequency of use increasing 230% from the year before.
Oxford defines brain rot as โthe supposed deterioration of a personโs mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.โ
FILE- In this Aug. 29, 2010 file photo, an Oxford English Dictionary is shown at the headquarters of the Associated Press in New York. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones, File)
The word of the year is intended to be โa word or expression that reflects a defining theme from the past 12 months.โ
โBrain rotโ was chosen by a combination of public vote and language analysis by Oxford lexicographers. It beat five other finalists: demure, slop, dynamic pricing, romantasy and lore.
While it may seem a modern phenomenon, the first recorded use of โbrain rotโ was by Henry David Thoreau in his 1854 ode to the natural world, โWalden.โ
Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl said that in its modern sense, โโbrain rotโ speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time.โ
โIt feels like a rightful next chapter in the cultural conversation about humanity and technology. Itโs not surprising that so many voters embraced the term, endorsing it as our choice this year,โ he said.
Last yearโs Oxford word of the year was โrizz,โ a riff on charisma, used to describe someoneโs ability to attract or seduce another person.
Collins Dictionaryโs 2024 word of the year is โbratโ โ the album title that became a summer-living ideal.
