Losing your mind looking at memes? The dictionary has a word for that

Are you spending hours scrolling mindlessly connected Instagram reels and TikTok? If so, you mightiness beryllium suffering from encephalon rot, which has go the Oxford connection of the year.

It is simply a word that captures concerns astir the interaction of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, particularly connected societal media. The word's usage saw an summation of 230% successful its frequence from 2023 to 2024.

Psychologist and Oxford University Professor, Andrew Przybylski says the popularity of the connection is simply a "symptom of the clip we're surviving in".

Brain rot bushed 5 different shortlisted words including demure, Romantasy and dynamic pricing.

Brain rot is defined arsenic the expected deterioration of a person's intelligence oregon intelligence state, particularly viewed arsenic the effect of overconsumption of worldly considered to beryllium trivial oregon unchallenging,

The archetypal recorded usage of encephalon rot dates overmuch earlier the instauration of the net - it was written down successful 1854 by Henry David Thoreau successful his publication Walden.

He criticises society's inclination to devalue analyzable ideas and however this is portion of a wide diminution successful intelligence and intelligence effort.

It leads him to ask: "While England endeavours to cure the murphy rot, volition not immoderate endeavour to cure the brain-rot – which prevails truthful overmuch much wide and fatally?"

The connection initially gained traction connected societal media among Gen Z and Gen Alpha communities, but it's present being utilized successful the mainstream arsenic a mode to picture low-quality, low-value contented recovered connected societal media.

Prof Przybylski says "there's nary grounds of encephalon rot really being a thing".

"Instead it describes our dissatisfaction with the online satellite and it's a connection that we tin usage to bundle our anxieties that we person astir societal media."

Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages, says looking backmost astatine the Oxford Word of the Year implicit the past 2 decades "you tin spot society's increasing preoccupation with however our virtual lives are evolving, the mode net civilization is permeating truthful overmuch of who we are and what we speech about".

"Last year's winning word, 'rizz,' was an absorbing illustration of however connection is progressively formed, shaped, and shared wrong online communities.

"Brain rot speaks to 1 of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and however we are utilizing our escaped time."

• Demure (adj.): Of a person: reserved oregon restrained successful quality oregon behaviour. Of clothing: not showy, ostentatious, oregon overly revealing
• Dynamic pricing (n.): The signifier of varying the terms for a merchandise oregon work to bespeak changing marketplace conditions; successful particular, the charging of a higher terms astatine a clip of greater demand
• Lore (n.): A assemblage of (supposed) facts, inheritance information, and anecdotes relating to idiosyncratic oregon something, regarded arsenic cognition required for afloat knowing oregon informed treatment of the taxable successful question
• Romantasy (n.): A genre of fabrication combining elements of romanticist fabrication and fantasy, typically featuring themes of magic, the supernatural, oregon escapade alongside a cardinal romanticist storyline
• Slop (n.): Art, writing, oregon different contented generated utilizing artificial intelligence, shared and distributed online successful an indiscriminate oregon intrusive way, and characterized arsenic being of debased quality, inauthentic, oregon inaccurate

Oxford University dictionary is not the lone 1 to person a connection of the year, past period Cambridge Dictionary announced that manifest was its winner.

The accepted explanation of manifest included the adjective "easily noticed oregon obvious" and the noun "to amusement thing intelligibly done signs oregon actions".

It present includes "to manifest" successful the consciousness of "to ideate achieving thing you want, successful the content doing truthful volition marque it much apt to happen".

It comes disconnected the backmost of a planetary wellness inclination endorsed by celebrities including vocalist Dua Lipa who said she manifested her header slot astatine Glastonbury.

Collins dictionary besides announced successful November that its connection of the twelvemonth was brat - a connection that has been everyplace implicit the past mates of months acknowledgment to Charli XCX's viral album.

Brat is defined arsenic idiosyncratic with a "confident, autarkic and hedonistic attitude".

It started arsenic the sanction of her fig 1 album, but it has arguably grown into a taste question for some, with radical adopting the brat mode of life.

Another net improvement has inspired the Dictionary.com connection of the twelvemonth which is demure.

The connection took disconnected successful August aft contented creator Jools Lebron, posted connected TikTok abut her demure enactment outfit and mindful make-up.

The "very demure, precise mindful" inclination took disconnected aft that and the satirical thought pokes amusive astatine the stereotypical ideas of femininity.