‘Brain Rot,’ the Scourge of the Chronically Online, Becomes Oxford’s 2024 Word of the Year

The Oxford University Press has announced its word of the year for 2024: “brain rot,” a term connected to the effects of wasting too much time online.

According to a statement from the publisher, which assembles the Oxford English Dictionary, the word is defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration.”

“‘Brain rot’ speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time,” says Casper Grathwohl, the president of Oxford Languages, in the statement. “It feels like a rightful next chapter in the cultural conversation about humanity and technology.”

While its current usage is connected to technological advances, “brain rot” is more than 150 years old. It first appeared in Henry David Thoreau’s 1854 book Walden, which chronicles the author’s retreat to a remote cabin in Massachusetts to live in solitude and escape the burdens of communal life.

“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?” wrote Thoreau.

Unfortunately for the author, it appears that brain rot has not been cured. Instead, it has continued to spread. Oxford notes that the term is now linked to a specific type of “low-quality, low-value” content that spreads quickly on social media—and what happens to us when we spend extensive stretches of time consuming more and more of it.

In the past year, the word’s usage has increased by roughly 230 percent, according to Oxford. It beat out five other finalists: “demure,” “lore,” “romantasy,” “slop” and “dynamic pricing.”

“Choosing the word of the year is a bit of a dark art,” Grathwohl tells the New York Times’ Jennifer Schuessler, adding: “The most successful ones are the ones that are slightly counterintuitive and make people think.”

Last year, the publisher’s winning word was “rizz,” a shortened version of “charisma.” After the announcement, the term’s usage increased by more than 1500 percent, according to the Times. Even now, a year later, its usage is twice as high as it was before it was recognized by Oxford.

To determine the 2024 finalists, Oxford’s language experts examined usage data and selected words that “reflect the moods and conversations that have helped shape the past year,” per the statement. They then left the final decision up to a public poll. This year, more than 37,000 people participated in the vote.

Several other dictionaries are also announcing their own words of the year. Collins Dictionary picked “brat,” which describes someone who is “characterized by a confident, independent and hedonistic attitude.” Meanwhile, Dictionary.com went in the opposite direction and chose “demure,” an adjective defined as “characterized by shyness and modesty.” The word, which was also on Oxford’s shortlist, caught on after American TikToker Jools Lebron described herself as “very demure, very mindful” while doing her makeup.

The popularity of “brain rot” is a “symptom of the time we’re living in,” Andrew Przybylski, a psychologist who specializes in human behavior and technology at Oxford University, tells BBC News’ Yasmin Rufo. “It describes our dissatisfaction with the online world, and it’s a word that we can use to bundle our anxieties that we have around social media.”

While Thoreau helped launch “brain rot,” Casper says that today’s younger generations have given it new life.

“I find it fascinating that the term ‘brain rot’ has been adopted by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, those communities largely responsible for the use and creation of the digital content the term refers to,” he says in the statement. “It demonstrates a somewhat cheeky self-awareness in the younger generations about the harmful impact of social media that they’ve inherited.”

Julia Binswanger | READ MORE

Julia Binswanger is a freelance arts and culture reporter based in Chicago. Her work has been featured in WBEZ, Chicago magazine, Rebellious magazine and PC magazine.