The word(s) of the year, sometimes capitalized as "Word(s) of the Year" and abbreviated "WOTY" (or "WotY"), refers to any of various assessments as to the most important word(s) or expression(s) in the public sphere during a specific year.
The German tradition Wort des Jahres was started in 1971. In 1999 it was supplemented with the Austrian word of the year to express the pluricentric nature of German and its multiple standards varieties.Muhr, Rudolf. 2024. Wort in der Zeit — Zeit im Wort: 25 Jahre Österreichisches Wort des Jahres. Graz: PCL-Press. https://pcl-press.org/publications/wort-in-der-zeit-zeit-im-wort-25-jahre-oesterreichisches-wort-des-jahres-ein-bericht/
The American Dialect Society's Word of the Year is the oldest English-language version, and the only one that is announced after the end of the calendar year, determined by a vote of independent linguists, and not tied to commercial interest. However, various other organizations also announce Words of the Year for a variety of purposes.
American Dialect Society
Since 1990, the American Dialect Society (ADS) has designated one or more words or terms to be the "Word of the Year" in the United States. In addition to the "Word of the Year", the society also selects words in other categories such as "Most Outrageous," "Most Creative," and "Most Likely to Succeed." YearWord of the YearNotes1990bushlips1991mother of all –1992Not!1993information superhighway1994Tie: cyber and morph1995Tie: World Wide Web and newt1996momEmergence of voting blocs like "soccer moms".1997millennium bug1998e-1999Y2K2000chadCause of a recount in the 2000 US election20019-11, 9/11 or September 112002weapons of mass destruction or WMD2003metrosexual2004red/blue/purple statesBecame a term used to describe the political position of a state. Popularized during the 2004 Democratic Keynote address given by Barack Obama2005truthiness2006to be plutoed, to pluto2007subprimeSubprime mortgage crisis that started in 20072008bailoutBank bailout of 20082009tweet2010app2011occupy2012#hashtag2013because2014#blacklivesmatter2015they2016dumpster fire2017fake news2018tender-age shelter2019(my) pronouns2020Covid2021Insurrection2022-ussy2023enshittification2024rawdog2025slop
Australian National Dictionary Centre
The Australian National Dictionary Centre has announced a Word of the Year each since 2006. The word is chosen by the editorial staff, and is selected on the basis of having come to some prominence in the Australian social and cultural landscape during the year. The Word of the Year is often reported in the media as being Australia's word of the year, but the word is not always an Australian word. +YearWord of the Year2006podcast2007me-tooism2008GFC2009Twitter2010vuvuzela20112012green-on-blue2013bitcoin2014shirtfront2015sharing economy2016democracy sausage2017Kwaussie2018Canberra bubble2019Voice2020iso2021strollout2022teal2023Matilda2024Colesworth2025social media ban
Cambridge Dictionary
The Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year, by Cambridge University Press & Assessment, has been published every year since 2015. The word is chosen based on "user data, zeitgeist, and language."
In 2024, Cambridge picked "manifest" as its Word of the Year. Traditionally, the word has been used as an adjective meaning "obvious", or as a verb meaning "to show something clearly through signs or actions". The word was chosen owing to its use by celebrities, particularly on social media, as a verb meaning "to imagine achieving something you want, in the belief doing so will make it more likely to happen".
+YearWord of the YearNote2015austerity2016paranoidUncertainty surrounding global events.2017populism2018nomophobia2019upcycling2020quarantineWorldwide lockdowns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.2021perseveranceDeployment of NASA Mars rover Perseverance, as well as societal recovery after COVID-19.2022homerThe answer to a difficult Wordle puzzle.2023hallucinateReferring to AI hallucinations: erroneous material generated by AI.2024manifest2025parasocial
Collins English Dictionary The Collins English Dictionary has announced a Word of the Year every year since 2013, and prior to this, announced a new 'word of the month' each month in 2012. Published in Glasgow, UK, Collins English Dictionary has been publishing English dictionaries since 1819.
Toward the end of each calendar year, Collins release a shortlist of notable words or those that have come to prominence in the previous 12 months. The shortlist typically comprises ten words, though in 2014 only four words were announced as the Word of the Year shortlist.
The Collins Words of the Year are selected by the Collins Dictionary team across Glasgow and London, consisting of lexicographers, editorial, marketing, and publicity staff, though previously the selection process has been open to the public.
Whilst the word is not required to be new to feature, the appearance of words in the list is often supported by usage statistics and cross-reference against Collins' extensive corpus to understand how language may have changed or developed in the previous year. The Collins Word of the Year is also not restricted to UK language usage, and words are often chosen that apply internationally as well, for example, fake news in 2017. +YearWord of the YearShortlist2013geek twerking Bitcoin phablet Plebgate fracker cybernat
thigh gap Olinguito Black Friday payday lending Harlem Shake2014photobomb Tinder bakeoff
normcore devo max2015binge-watch dadbod shaming Corbynomics clean eating ghosting
swipe contactless manspreading transgender2016Brexit hygge mic drop Trumpism throw shade sharenting
snowflake generation dude food uberization JOMO2017fake news Antifa corbynmania cuffing season echo chamber fidget spinner
gender-fluid gig economy Insta unicorn2018single-use backstop floss gammon gaslight MeToo
plogging VAR vegan whitewash2019climate strike bopo cancel deepfake double down entryist
hopepunk influencer nonbinary rewilding2020lockdown Coronavirus BLM key worker furlough self-isolate
social distancing Megxit TikToker mukbang2021NFT climate anxiety double-vaxxed Metaverse pingdemic cheugy
crypto hybrid working neopronoun Regencycore2022permacrisis Carolean Kyiv lawfare Partygate quiet quitting
splooting sportswashing vibe shift warm bank2023AI Bazball deinfluencing nepo baby ultraprocessed canon event
debanking greedflation semaglutide ULEZ2024Brat brainrot era looksmaxxing rawdogging anti-tourism
delulu romantasy supermajority yapping2025vibe coding aura farming biohacking broligarchy clanker coolcation
glaze HENRY micro-retirement taskmasking
Dictionary.com In 2010, Dictionary.com announced its first word of the year, 'change', and has done so in December every year since. The selection is based on search trends on the site throughout the year and the news events that drive them.
The following is the list of annual words since beginning with the first in 2010: YearWord of the Year2010change2011tergiversate2012bluster2013privacy2014exposure2015identity2016xenophobia2017complicit2018misinformation2019existential2020pandemic2021allyship2022woman2023hallucinate2024demure20256-7
The Economist Since 2021, British current affair journal The Economist has published a word of the year. YearWord of the Year2021vax2022hybrid work2023ChatGPT2024kakistocracy2025slop
Macquarie Dictionary
The Macquarie Dictionary, which is the dictionary of Australian English, updates the online dictionary each year with new words, phrases, and definitions. These can be viewed on their website.
Each year the editors review all new words and definitions that have been added to the dictionary in the past year from which they select a shortlist and invite the public to vote on their favourite. The public vote is held in November and results in the People's Choice winner. The most influential word of the year is also selected by the Word of the Year Committee which comprises the Editorial Team at Macquarie Dictionary along with David Astle and language research specialist Tiger Webb. The Committee meets annually to select the overall winning words.
The following is the list of winning words since the Macquarie Word of the Year first began in 2006:
Year Committee's Choice People's Choice 2006 muffin top 2007 pod slurping password fatigue 2008 toxic debt flashpacker 2009 shovel ready tweet 2010 googleganger shockumentary 2011 burqini fracking 2012 phantom vibration syndrome First World problem 2013 infovore onesie 2014 mansplain shareplate2015captain's callcaptain's call 2016 fake news halal snack pack2017milkshake duckframily2018me toosingle-use2019cancel culturerobodebt2020doomscrolling and ronaKaren and covidiot2021strolloutstrollout2022tealbachelor's handbag2023cozzie livsgenerative AI2024enshittificationenshittification2025AI slopAI slop
Merriam-Webster
The lists of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year (for each year) are ten-word lists published annually by the American dictionary-publishing company Merriam-Webster, Inc., which feature the ten words of the year from the English language. These word lists started in 2003 and have been published at the end of each year. At first, Merriam-Webster determined its contents by analyzing page hits and popular searches on its website. Since 2006, the list has been determined by an online poll and by suggestions from visitors to the website.
The following is the list of words that became Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year since 2003: YearWord of the Year2003democracy2004blog2005integrity2006truthiness2007w00t2008bailout2009admonish2010austerity2011pragmatic2012socialism and capitalism2013science2014culture2015-ism2016surreal2017feminism2018justice2019they2020pandemic2021vaccine2022gaslighting2023authentic2024polarization2025slop
Oxford
Oxford University Press, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary and many other dictionaries, announces an Oxford Dictionaries UK Word of the Year and an Oxford Dictionaries US Word of the Year; sometimes these are the same word and simply dubbed Word of the Year. The word need not have been coined within the year or twelve months but it does need to have become prominent or notable during that time. There is no guarantee that the Word of the Year will be included in any Oxford dictionary if it's not present. The Oxford Dictionaries Words of the Year are selected by editorial staff from each of the Oxford dictionaries. The selection team is made up of lexicographers and consultants to the dictionary team, and editorial, marketing, and publicity staff.Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year: Frequently Asked Questions (viewed November 20, 2013).
Year UK Word of the Year US Word of the YearHindi Word of the Year 2004 chav 2005 sudoku podcast 2006 bovvered carbon-neutral 2007 carbon footprint locavore 2008 credit crunch hypermiling 2009 simples unfriend 2010 big society refudiate 2011 squeezed middle 2012 omnishambles GIF (noun) 2013 selfieThe Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2013 is... (viewed November 20, 2013). 2014 vape 2015 😂 (Face With Tears of Joy emoji) 2016 post-truth2017youthquakeAadhaar2018toxicNari Shakti (Women Power)2019climate emergency "Climate emergency" was named word of the year.Samvidhaan2020 No single word chosenAatmanirbharta2021 vax2022 goblin mode2023 rizz2024 brain rot2025 rage bait
Grant Barrett Since 2004, lexicographer Grant Barrett has published an unranked words-of-the-year list, usually in The New York Times.
Similar word lists
A Word a Year Since 2004, Susie Dent, an English lexicographer has published a column, "A Word a Year", in which she chooses a single word from each of the last 101 years to represent preoccupations of the time. Susie Dent notes that the list is subjective.A Word a Year: 1906–2006A Word a Year: 1905–2005 Each year, she gives a completely different set of words.