Popular online dictionary platform Dictionary.com has officially announced its annual word of the year, and they’ve made a very mindful choice.
Their 2024 Word of the Year is the viral sensation “demure,” which took off on TikTok in August of this year. It was popularized by TikToker Jools Lebron, whose phrase “very demure, very mindful” was featured in a series of viral videos and replicated by other creators. Lebron would also often pair the word with “cutesy” and “considerate,” providing advice to her followers for situations like “how to be demure and modest and respectful at the workplace.”
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Between January and September of this year, Dictionary.com says that Demure saw a 1200% increase in usage in digital web media and had 200 times more searches on Dictionary.com.
Dictionary.com defines the word demure as “characterized by shyness and modesty; reserved,” but the word took on new life through its internet fame—and soon anything from driving to work to eating a donut could be demure. Further, the word grew to represent how a term often associated with submissiveness and reservation can be empowering, and help people express a “quiet confidence,” Dictionary.com said in its announcement.
Read More: See How We’re Explaining This Trend? Very Demure, Very Mindful
As a transgender woman, Lebron also utilized the fame from these “demure” videos to finance the rest of her transition and gender affirming care, she told her followers in a video. Beyond Lebron, many of the creators who participated in the trend were other trans women, reminding their followers exactly how to act “mindful” and “demure.”
Along with its top choice, Dictionary.com also announced their Word of the Year shortlist, which included Brainrot, Brat, Extreme Weather, Midwest Nice, and Weird.
Dictionary.com also noted how their choice of “demure” represents a shift in public life, as our collective vocabulary moves away from emphasizing the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, and toward a greater concern with “personal presentation and appearance as in-person experiences become the norm again.”
Last year, the platform chose “hallucinate” as its word of the year, specifically in the context of artificial intelligence. This year, though, their top choices lean more toward words of high internet popularity.