London, United Kingdom

A word which represents a common trend of mindless scrolling of Instagram reels and TikTok - 'brain rot' - has been announced as the Oxford word of the year.

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The term 'brain rot' refers to the common trend of excessive consumption of low-quality online content. The usage of the word saw a surge of 230 per cent in its frequency from 2023 to 2024.

According to psychologist and Oxford University Professor Andrew Przybylski, the word's popularity is a "symptom of the time we're living in".

Also Read: Australia clears bill banning children from social media, LinkedIn says its platform is 'too dull for kids'

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Brain rot emerged as a winner after defeating five other shortlisted words, which included demure, dynamic pricing, romantasy, lore, and slop.

Here's what 'brain rot' means

Brain rot refers to the deterioration in the intellectual or mental state of a person, especially because of the overconsumption of social media posts or reels.

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The word was first used before the internet came into the world. The word 'brain rot' was written by Henry David Thoreau in 1854 in his book "Walden".

The author criticised the tendency of society to devalue complex ideas and how it leads to a decline in mental and intellectual effort.

In the book, the writer asks, "While England endeavours to cure the potato rot, will not any endeavour to cure the brain-rot – which prevails so much more widely and fatally?"

Initially, the word gained traction among Gen Z and Gen Alpha on social media, and soon it started being used to describe low-quality content on social media platforms.

Watch: Australia Passes Social Media Ban For Children Under 16

Explaining the word, Prof Przybylski said that "there's no evidence of brain rot actually being a thing".

"Instead it describes our dissatisfaction with the online world and it's a word that we can use to bundle our anxieties that we have around social media," the professor added, reported BBC.

President of Oxford Languages, Casper Grathwohl, said that if one tries to revisit the Oxford Word of the Year in the last two decades "you can see society's growing preoccupation with how our virtual lives are evolving, the way internet culture is permeating so much of who we are and what we talk about".

"Last year's winning word, 'rizz,' was an interesting example of how language is increasingly formed, shaped, and shared within online communities. Brain rot speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time," he added.  

(With inputs from agencies)