Collins crowns 'brat' as word of the year 2024
Collins Dictionary selects a word or phrase as Word of the Year each year. This year, the competition was notably strong, but Charli XCX effortlessly outshined it. It's hardly surprising—since the release of the album "brat," this word has been reverberating everywhere. This trend will likely continue throughout next summer.
1 November 2024 16:02
If you are Gen Z, follow trends, and enjoy pop music with raw electronic influences, chances are you've been living your brat era for at least the whole summer. Charli XCX's popularity rocketed to approximately 100 km/h in what seems like a second and shows no signs of halting. The artist inadvertently sparked a trend that evolved into a lifestyle, influenced fashion, established her as the hottest festival headliner, and positioned her as a strong candidate for next year's Grammy Awards.
Everyone yearned to experience a brat summer—colloquial speech absorbed "brat" and left no trace behind. No wonder language experts noticed the surge triggered by the Charli XCX effect. The Collins Dictionary selected "brat" as the Word of the Year 2024 in its annual contest, akin to the Polish Youth Word of the Year.
Word of the Year 2024 selected. What words besides "brat" made the list?
"Brat"—an adjective characterised by a confident stance, independence, and hedonism—is the newly formulated definition of "brat," reflecting its pop-cultural influence and worldwide proliferation into everyday language. Its top position likely surprises no one.
The Collins Dictionary list for the Word of the Year 2024 also includes words such as:
- brainrot (difficulty in clear thinking, a "freeze," caused by consuming low-quality content)
- era (a segment of someone's life or career distinguished by something noteworthy),
- looksmaxxing (the endeavour to enhance one's physical attractiveness),
- rawdogging (on trains, aeroplanes, and cars: forsaking all entertainment to gaze out the window or at the flight map simply),
- anti-tourism (actions taken against tourism on a large scale)
- delulu, (living in an illusion)
- romantasy (a literary genre combining romance and fantasy),
- supermajority (a substantial majority in a legislative assembly allowing the government to pass laws without effective resistance),
- yapping (talking at length about trivial or uninteresting topics).
