US dictionary adds 1,400 words, including neckbeard, trash panda and cuffing season
Trash panda, crashout, Rickroll, vibe coding and Sunday scaries are among the 1,400 new words added to Merriam-Webster's dictionary.
US dictionary adds 1,400 words, including neckbeard, trash panda and cuffing season
Raccoons are fondly called trash pandas because they like eating food found in people’s rubbish.
Merriam-Webster, America’s oldest dictionary publisher, has added 1,400 new words, among them glow-up, looksmaxxing, meme coin and trash panda, the affectionate nickname for raccoons.
“The new entries reflect words and meanings that have demonstrated widespread use over time, offering a window into the world today,” the publisher said in a blog post.
Other additions are food-related, including superfood (foods rich in nutrients), bao (a stuffed bread bun popular in Asia), and cake pop (cake and icing on a lollipop stick).
As autumn approaches, cuffing season has also been included, describing the time of year when single people look for a romantic partner to spend the cold months with.
Some terms will already be familiar to many, such as whack-a-mole (“a situation in which a new problem appears as soon as an existing similar problem has been addressed”).
Others may be less familiar, such as the Mandela effect (“the experience of many people collectively having the same false memory”).
Some words are especially American, such as the adjective California sober, which the dictionary defines as using marijuana and/or alcohol while avoiding other drugs, like cocaine or meth.
Here are a few more of the latest additions:
Rickroll - to prank someone into listening to Never Gonna Give You Up by English singer Rick Astley
Uncanny valley - the creepy feeling from seeing something artificial that almost appears real
parasocial - a one-sided emotional connection
vibe coding - using an artificial intelligence system to generate computer code
chili crisp - a spicy, crunchy condiment made from oil and fried bits peppers, garlic or shallots
yacht rock - a genre of soft rock music that began in the 1970s
neckbeard - a beard covering the chin and throat, as well as the "culture" associated with those beards, which sometimes can be a disparaging term as meaning misogynistic or a computer nerd
shapewear - tight clothing that is designed to shape and smooth the body
Sunday scaries - the feeling of anxiety or sadness knowing that the weekend is ending
crashout - a dramatic ending, loss or defeat, or emotional breakdown
Merriam-Webster is also expected to announce its word of the year in the next few months.
In 2025, the word slop was selected, after its definition was broadened to include "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence".