The Cambridge Dictionary is already looking ahead to a better new year with its official pick for Word of the Year.
As new slang terms emerge at a rapid pace, the buzz around words that were once popular often fades quickly in the fast-changing landscape of contemporary culture. While TikTok’s recent trend of embracing the word “Demure” gained attention, it couldn’t outshine the word ‘Manifest,’ which stood out when the Cambridge Dictionary considered its three key criteria: user data, zeitgeist, and language. The Cambridge Dictionary defines the verb as: “To use methods such as visualization and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen.”
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Why did Cambridge Dictionary picked ‘manifest’ as Word of the Year ?
Sander van der Linden, a professor of social psychology at Cambridge University, criticized the concept as “magical thinking.” Despite this, the word gained undeniable popularity, particularly on TikTok, especially during the pandemic.
Clearly, the Cambridge Dictionary acknowledged the word’s rise when it announced its Word of the Year 2024 on November 20, 2024.
The dictionary’s official website revealed that ‘manifest’ emerged as the top choice in the “user data” category, accumulating 130,000 page views this year. The dictionary’s blog also pointed out that a “host of manifesting influencers” on social media played a key role in the word’s surge in popularity during the pandemic, offering “tips on how to manifest money, career success, or money generally, abundance.”
However, it was ultimately the Olympians, Paralympians, singers, and other influential figures who helped cement its place in mainstream media, sharing how they attributed their success this year to the powers of manifestation. Additionally, the blog noted that the word’s early negative associations with diseases and illnesses quickly shifted. It evolved into a more positive concept, as ‘manifest’ began to be used in conjunction with words like “goal, success, and dream.”
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Other words mentioned by the Cambridge Dictionary
As the Cambridge Dictionary’s 10th Word of the Year, ‘manifest’ faced strong competition, including ‘brat,’ which gained new meaning with Charli XCX’s sixth studio album title and its connection to the Kamala Harris presidential campaign. Earlier, ‘brat’ was named Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year.
Other words that came close to the top included ‘ecotarian,’ which “reflects the growing movement towards environmentally conscious living,” and ‘resilience,’ defined as “the strength and adaptability needed in challenging times.”
According to a report from EuroNews, the Cambridge Dictionary also revealed a list of new words it had been tracking this year, including ‘quishing,’ ‘cocktail party problem,’ ‘vampire’ (as an adjective derivation of the existing word), ‘resenteeism,’ and ‘gymfluencer.’