‘Skibidi’, ‘Delulu’, and More Added to Cambridge Dictionary
The Cambridge Dictionary has added over 6,000 new words this year, with many of them pulled straight from TikTok, YouTube, and online communities. Terms like skibidi, tradwife, and delulu, all of which were once seen as fleeting slang, have now been cemented in the English language, with experts saying they’re here to stay. “We only add words where we think they'll have staying power,” said Colin McIntosh, lexical programme manager.
Skibidi, a nonsense word made popular by the bizarre Skibidi Toilet YouTube series, is now officially defined as “a word that can have different meanings such as ‘cool’ or ‘bad’, or can be used with no real meaning as a joke.” Its rise has been so mainstream that Kim Kardashian was seen wearing a necklace engraved with the phrase. Though beloved by Gen Alpha, some critics say the trend reflects “a generation fluent in irony but starved for meaning.”
The addition of the word tradwife, has sparked debate. It refers to women, particularly influencers, who embrace traditional roles like homemaking and child-rearing and often share that lifestyle online. Hannah Neeleman of @ballerinafarm has become a well-known figure in this trend, earning the nickname “the queen of tradwifery.”
Delulu, short for delusional, has moved beyond K-pop fandoms to describe anyone believing in something clearly untrue, often by choice. The phrase “delulu with no solulu,” made famous by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in parliament, helped push it into the mainstream. The dictionary defines it as “believing things that are not real or true, usually because you choose to.”
Other notable additions include broligarchy (a “small group of men, especially men owning or involved in a technology business, who are extremely rich and powerful, and who have or want political influence”), mouse jiggler (a device that fakes activity on your computer), work spouse, and lewk, a fashion-forward twist on the word “look.” Together, these entries paint a picture of a language shaped by memes, influencers, and remote work.
