'Maxxing' selected as Dictionary.com word of the year
The term "maxxing" is used as an adjective, adverb, noun and verb by many in Gen Z and Gen Alpha to describe an emphasis in optimisation.
'Maxxing' chosen as Dictionary.com word of the year
Americans have fully embraced "maxxing," making it Dictionary.com’s 2026 Word of the Year.
That marks a sharp shift from two years ago, when the site, after analysing US social media trends, news stories, and search data, picked "demure" as word of the year. Last year’s choice was "67".
"Maxxing is the linguistic manifestation of a culture increasingly preoccupied with getting the most out of everything," said Steve Johnson, director of lexicography for the Dictionary Media Group.
Dictionary.com found that digital media used "maxxing" nearly 19 times more in August 2026 than the 2025 monthly average. The site also weighed affordability, data centre, odyssey, and the shortened form of uncle, "unc", as possible words of the year.
On social media, many people in Generation Z and younger - those under 30 - post extensively about their maxxing efforts to achieve all sorts of perfection.
Fitness and wellness influencers post about "proteinmaxxing" and "fibermaxxing". Those devoting their full attention to improving sleep habits say they are "sleepmaxxing".
Influencer Clavicular has attracted thousands of followers by documenting his extreme "looksmaxxing" - trying to meet a prescribed set of attractiveness criteria, with particular emphasis on jawlines, eyes and physique.
"Whatever we're doing, we want to push it further," Johnson said. "But its expanding uses also reveal how people are responding to that impulse. Some embrace it. Some exaggerate it for laughs. Others subvert it entirely to describe stepping back from the relentless pursuit of more."
People had been playing with the term - and the idea - for decades before Clavicular began posting videos.
In the opening song for the 1990's television show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, for example, Will Smith raps: "Chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool.".