What is brain rot? — Oxford word of the year for 2024

Are you endlessly scrolling social media apps and consuming mind-numbing content? If yes, then you might be suffering from "brain rot" — the Oxford word of the year for 2024. 

The word was chosen by more than 37,000 people through a public vote from a shortlist of six words created by the Oxford University Press. 

Brain rot 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”.

According to Oxford University Press, the word brain rot gained prominence this year as term used to describe the impacts of using "excessive amounts of low-quality online content" especially on social media. 

The newly-added word was increasingly used between 2023 and 2024 by 230%. 

However, it's first recorded use was in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden. 

Casper Grathwohl, Oxford Languages president, said: "Brain rot speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time. It feels like a rightful next chapter in the cultural conversation about humanity and technology. It’s not surprising that so many voters embraced the term, endorsing it as our choice this year.

“I also find it fascinating that the word 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.”

What were the other five words? 

• Demure: Of a person: Reserved or restrained in appearance or behaviour. Of clothing: not showy or overly revealing
• Dynamic pricing: The practice of varying the price for a product or service to reflect changing market conditions
• Lore: A body of facts and background information relating to someone or something
• Romantasy: A genre of fiction combining elements of romantic fiction and fantasy
• Slop: Art, writing, or other content generated using artificial intelligence