'Brat' crowned Collins’ word of the year as 'romantasy' makes it onto the list

The newly defined word "brat", which describes a person "characterised by a confident, independent and hedonistic attitude", has been crowned Collins’ word of the year 2024.

Inspired by singer-songwriter Charli XCX’s album, the word "brat" has become one of the most talked about words of the year. It is described by Collins as "a cultural phenomenon", as well as "an aesthetic and a way of life".

The lexicographers at Collins Dictionary monitor the 20-billion-word "Collins Corpus", which draws from a range of media sources, including social media, to create the annual list of "new and notable" words.

Another word on this year’s list is "era", further highlighting the role female musicians play in shaping popular culture. The word is inspired by Taylor Swift’s "Eras Tour", which according to Collins is now being used to describe "a period of one’s life or career that is of a distinctive character".

Only one election-related word, "supermajority", has made it onto this year’s word list, despite it being an election year. It refers to "a large majority in a legislative assembly that enables a government to pass laws without effective scrutiny", and was being used more after the UK general election in July.

Younger generations have coined and redefined words like "yapping" and "delulu", while social media has propelled the rise of terms like "brainrot" or the "inability to think clearly caused by excessive consumption of low-quality online content", and "rawdogging", which means "undertaking an activity without preparation".

The word "romantasy" was also particularly popular, as the genre soared, and made it onto the list alongside "anti-tourism". 

“While ‘supermajority’ does the heavy lifting in a year of political upheaval in the UK and around the world, the big disrupters in language have come from different sources," said Alex Beecroft, the m.d. of Collins. "With many of this year’s notable words being popularised by generations Z and Alpha, we can confidently say this is the most ‘brat’ word of the year list ever.”