Word Of The Year? Brat

There’s a word that overwhelmed cultural discourse this summer. Not ‘demure’ or ‘mindful’, though that was a whirlwind week. The real stand out is ‘brat’: the title of British pop star Charli XCX’s bestselling sixth album released in June 2024 which, with some savvy marketing, she managed to transform into a whole movement.

 

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‘Brat’ Is Collins’ Word Of The Year

But what does ‘brat’ even mean? It’s a question that lingered heavily over news channels, marketing teams and social media executives for most of the year as they grappled with whether or not to jump on the trend (we know the infamous Duolingo owl was exhilarated to already be a lurid shade of brat green). According to Collins Dictionary (an English dictionary published by HarperCollins since 1979), ‘brat’, though once a name for a sullen child, has been ‘newly defined’ in 2024 as follows: ‘characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude’.

‘More than a hugely successful album, “brat” is a cultural phenomenon that has resonated with people globally, and “brat summer” established itself as an aesthetic and a way of life,’ the dictionary continues. Indeed, though it started as an album – and lives on in a follow-up extended album (‘brat and it’s completely different but also still brat’) with a remix of each and every track – it seems ‘brat’ has captured the spirit of the moment, and inspired a slew of fashion trends to boot. ‘Channelling self-acceptance as well as rebelliousness, it’s a fitting word for 2024, a year when hedonism and anxiety have combined to form an intoxicating brew,’ Collins says.

 

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Shortlisted Words

‘The runners-up in this year’s list speak to some of the same tensions [as brat], and often have their roots in the language of various online communities,’ Collins says. In short: thank you TikTok for most of this shortlist, as defined by the British dictionary:

• Delulu: unrealistic in one’s ideas or expectations – a reduplication of ‘deluded’
• Brainrot: an inability to think clearly, caused by excessive consumption of low-quality online content
• Era: a period of one’s life or career that is of a distinctive character (undoubtledly informed by Taylor Swift’s global Eras Tour)
• Looksmaxxing: attempting to maximise the attractiveness of one’s physical appearance
• Rawdogging: the act of undertaking an activity with preparation, support or equipment (popularised by TikTokers taking aeroplane flights with no entertainment)
• Anti-tourism: opposition to or action against large-scale tourism
• Romantasy: a literary genre that combines romantic fiction with fantasy (Sarah J Maas is the TikTok favourite)
• Supermajority: a large majority in a legislative assembly that enables a government to pass laws without effective scrutiny
• Yapping: talking at length, especially about inconsequential manners.

And the last is where we will leave this.