‘Mogging’ named Collins Dictionary’s 2026 word of the year: What are the other words on the list?

Collins Dictionary has chosen its 2026 word of the year and it is “mogging." It means to outshine or outperform someone or something. The lexicographers at Collins Dictionary monitor the 27-billion-word Collins Corpus, which draws from a range of media sources, including social media, to create the annual list of new and notable words. One word makes it to the top, while they provide a list of most popular words. This year, the words making to the list are bixie, fricy, friendslop and Pdoom.

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According to Collins Dictionary, in 2026, use of the word “mogging” soared by 210 per cent, seeing names ranging from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg all adopting the term. Managing director of Collins, Alex Beecroft, said: “The selection of ‘mogging’ as Collins’ word of the year shows how each generation leaves its mark on language. It’s a great example of how Gen Z and Gen Alpha have adopted a word and turned it into humorous slang, making the language their own and ‘mogging’ the rest of us.” Words like “hydration break” and “manchesterism” also made to the list. Whole the first one refers to the unusual rule that took over this summer’s World Cup, the second refers to the political philosophy of “Manchesterism”, associated with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham‘s return to Westminster, also made the list, describing the devolution of power to different regions.

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Other words in the list and its meaning

• Bixie – a hairstyle that is shorter than a bob but longer than a pixie cut
• Carspreading – the tendency of manufacturers to build cars that are longer, wider, and heavier
• Firewave – a series of urban wildfires in a short space of time
• Fricy – (of food) both fruity and spicy
• Friendslop – a type of low-budget, independently produced video game, played among friends
• Ghostjob – a job that is advertised without any intention to appoint anyone
• Hydration Break – a pause in a sporting contest to allow the contestants to drink fluids
• Manchesterism – a political philosophy involving devolution of power to regions and emphasising economic and social progress
• Mogging – the act of outshining or outperforming someone or something
• P(Doom) – an estimation of the probability that AI will bring about the collapse of human civilisation