“Brain Rot” chosen as Oxford Word of the Year 2024: What it means and how it’s relevant in digital age

“Brain rot” has been named the Oxford Word of the Year for 2024. The word winning this title reflects the growing concerns about the impact of consuming trivial social media content on mental health. The word was chosen from a shortlist of six words – demure, dynamic pricing, lore, romantasy, and slop – after a public vote involving over 37,000 participants. Oxford University Press (OUP) highlighted the increasing use of “brain rot” to describe the perceived negative effects of excessive consumption of low-quality online content.