Cambridge Dictionary and Dictionary.com have announced their picks for the 2024 Word of the Year.
For Cambridge Dictionary, their word of the year is “manifest,” which means “to use methods such as visualization and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want.”
Publishing Manager of Cambridge Dictionary Wendalyn Nichols explained their criteria for choosing their word of the year stating that, “When we were choosing a Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year, we have three considerations: user data, zeitgeist, and language.”
“Manifest won this year because it increased notably in lookups, its use widened greatly across all types of media, and it shows how the meaning of a word can change over time,” she added.
The word manifest has been commonly used in the self-help community as well as on social media which has now been mentioned widely on mainstream media.
With more “manifesting influencers” advocating for this scientifically unproven practice on social media, the use of the word manifest has become more widespread; in fact, it was added to the Cambridge Dictionary in May 2023.
As for Dicitonary.com, they chose demure as their word of the year. Demure refers to a person or behavior that is reserved, modest, or shy.
In terms of their criteria in selecting the word, their lexicographers analyze a large amount of data which includes newsworthy headlines, trends on social media, search engine results, and other factors to identify which words made an impact in conversations in the real world and online.
The primary cause of the dramatic increase in the use of this word is TikToker Jools Lebron, who popularized the term “very demure, very mindful” in a series of videos uploaded on the platform in early August.
One common word that got shortlisted for the Word of the Year on both websites is brat, which is a word that has taken on a new meaning in 2024 thanks to a tweet made by musician Charli xcx on X (formerly Twitter). The definition of brat refers to a child who misbehaves but its new meaning refers to someone who is confidently rebellious, unapologetically bold, and playfully defiant.
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