A slang term for supposed mental damage done by overconsumption of trivial online content triumphed over a shortlist that also included “lore,” “demure” and “slop.”

There’s a name for that feeling you get after spending too long scrolling aimlessly, and Oxford University Press (OUP) has chosen it as its word for the year for 2024. “Brain rot” took the title in a vote in which more than 37,000 people participated, as well as public commentary and analysis of OUP’s language data.

See what other terms made the Oxford University Press shortlist and what other publications chose as their word of 2024.

In a world where social media has taken charge, it has taken up the little to no time people have post their work. Scrolling mindlessly on social media has become and habit and it has led to people suffering from sleep deprivation because one moment,

Brain rot” beat out five other finalists, including “dynamic pricing,” “lore,” “romantasy,” “slop,” and Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year “demure.” “‘Brain rot’ speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life,

The term “brain rot” has been declared Oxford’s 2024 Word of the Year, according to Digi24. The phrase, which captures the worry that endless scrolling through trivial or mind-numbing content is eroding mental sharpness,

Oxford is out with its 2024 word of the year, and it's a term that's appeared on other end-of-year lists: "brain rot," referencing what happens to one's brain when one mindlessly scrolls social media and other trivial online content.