Internet culture is changing the English language, and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture,” this is how Colin McIntosh, Lexical Programme Manager at Cambridge Dictionary, summed it up. Meaning, a married woman who stays at home doing cooking, cleaning, and has children that she takes care of, the dictionary definition also says a “tradwife” is “especially one who posts on social media”. Cambridge defines a tradwife as « especially one who posts on social media. »
“Internet culture is changing the English language and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the dictionary,” said its lexical programme manager, Colin McIntosh. “Internet culture is changing the English language and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the dictionary,” said Colin McIntosh, lexical programme manager at Cambridge Dictionary. Thousands of new words, including popular social media slang such as « Skibidi », « tradwife », and « delulu », are set to be added to the Cambridge Dictionary this year. « Internet culture is changing the English language and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the dictionary, » said the dictionary’s lexical programme manager, Colin McIntosh. The term was actually coined by the creator of a viral animated YouTube video series called ‘skibidi toilet’.
Delulu is a contraction of ‘delusional’ meaning, according to the dictionary ‘believing things that are not real or true, usually because you choose to’. It has since been picked up by several celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, who shared a post on Instagram in October showing a necklace her daughter had given her as a birthday present, engraved with ‘skibidi toilet’. Merging “bro” and “oligarchy”, it refers to “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,” says the dictionary. Meanwhile, new entries like “work wife” and “work spouse” acknowledge workplace relationships where two people help and trust each other, Cambridge Dictionary said. Slang term “skibidi”, a jibberish word, joined the world’s largest online dictionary in the past 12 months.
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- It can mean “cool,” “bad,” or sometimes nothing at all – just used for fun.
- As the series evolved, so did the toilets, spawning variations like the space-themed Astro Toilets.
- « It’s not every day you get to see words like skibidi and delulu make their way into the Cambridge Dictionary. We only add words where we think they’ll have staying power, » McIntosh added.
- Put simply, it’s a phrase you can use instead of the bog standard expression ‘what on earth’.
Few months back, the Cambridge University Press also announced acknowledging the AI-related term “slop.” Traditionally, slop meant leftover food waste. Now, it also refers to “content on the internet that is of very low quality, especially when it is created by artificial intelligence.” So if your social feed is flooded with bad AI memes or low-effort articles, you’re scrolling through… slop. • Tradwife – “traditional wife,” a social media trend where women embrace homemaking and traditional gender roles. “Work spouse”, meanwhile, is a phrase for workplace relationships where two people help and trust each other, according to the dictionary.
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Other new entries in the dictionary include “mouse jiggler”, a post-pandemic device or piece of software used to make it seem as though you are working when you are not. Over 6,000 terms will join the lexicon, reflecting modern life with additions like « mouse jiggler » from remote working, and « forever chemical » highlighting climate change concerns. « If the word is used in many different contexts over a period of time, the lexicographers add it to the dictionary. If the lexicographers think that a new word might be ephemeral, they keep a record of it to review at a later date, » it adds.
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Mr McIntosh said Cambridge Dictionary only adds words which they believe will stand the test of time. As the series evolved, so did the toilets, spawning variations like the space-themed Astro Toilets. Absurd characters and chaotic humour turned the show into shorthand for « brain rot » media. • Work wife sponsor definition in the cambridge english dictionary / Work spouse – workplace partners who share a strong professional bond.
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 6,000 New Words: Skibidi, Delelu, Tradwife, and More Gen Z Slang Make It Official
The Cambridge Dictionary, one of the world’s widely used dictionaries, has added 6,000 new words. And yes, that now includes popular internet slangs like skibidi, delelu and tradwife. ‘It’s not every day you get to see words like ‘skibidi’ and ‘delulu’ make their way into the Cambridge Dictionary,” he explained. “It’s not every day you get to see words like ‘skibidi’ and ‘delulu’ make their way into the Cambridge Dictionary,” he said. « It’s not every day you get to see words like skibidi and delulu make their way into the Cambridge Dictionary. We only add words where we think they’ll have staying power, » McIntosh added.
- The phrase has been viewed billions of times online, and even spilled into politics when Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used « delulu with no solulu » earlier this year to mock his parliamentary opponents.
- Meanwhile, new entries like “work wife” and “work spouse” acknowledge workplace relationships where two people help and trust each other, Cambridge Dictionary said.
- It refers to socially conservative influencers who celebrate looking after their husbands, children and homes and post about it on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
- Many of these words are born online, proving how TikTok, memes, and digital culture are reshaping English in real time.
Last on our list of highlights is a term introduced thanks to the ongoing spotlight on climate change. It sounds rather like a hark back to sometime around 1955, the days of the BBC radio’s Housewives Choice – in other words not the first phrase that comes to mind in 2025. More remote working since the pandemic helped “mouse jiggler”, meaning a device or piece of software used to make it seem as though you are working when you are not, gain its place in the dictionary. Editors then test whether a word has longevity beyond a fleeting meme, and whether its usage has spread widely enough to warrant inclusion.
In total, Cambridge has added more than 6000 new entries this year and more than 3200 words last year making it one of the fastest-growing dictionaries in the world. Many of these words are born online, proving how TikTok, memes, and digital culture are reshaping English in real time. In fact it’s defined in the dictionary as ‘a word that can have different meanings such as ‘cool’ or ‘bad’, or can be used with no real meaning as a joke’. One of the world’s largest glossaries of words has grown by another 6,000 terms and phrases in the past 12 months, reflecting new trends and topics, from climate change to familial relationships. Delulu emerged more than 10 years ago as an insult directed at obsessive K-pop fans to question their belief that they would date their idols. The term “delulu is the solulu” for manifesting your wishes has been viewed billions of times on TikTok.
Forever chemicals, man-made substances in living organisms and in the environment that accumulate over time and can’t break down naturally. Like most gibberish, skibidi doesn’t actually have any direct meaning. Perhaps the most bizarre addition to the Cambridge Dictionary is skibidi. Cambridge Dictionary uses the Cambridge English Corpus, a database of more than two billion words of written and spoken English, to observe how new words are used by different people, how often and in what contexts they are used.
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The Cambridge Dictionary has added over 6,000 new words, including the viral slang term « skibidi, » popularized by the Skibidi Toilet YouTube series. This addition reflects the growing influence of internet culture, particularly TikTok and meme trends, on the evolution of the English language. While some embrace these changes, others express concern about the potential loss of meaning. “It’s not every day you get to see words like skibidi and delulu make their way into the Cambridge Dictionary.
The phrase “delulu with no solulu” was used earlier this year by Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to attack his opponents in parliament. “Skibidi”, “tradwife” and “delulu” are among the new words to have made this year’s Cambridge Dictionary in a selection that confirms the increasing influence of the TikTok generation on the English language. No, not a housewife, but a tradwife – a married woman with children who stays at home cooking and cleaning. Colin Mcintosh, the lexical programme manager at Cambridge Dictionary, explained lexicographers only add words they believe will stand the test of time and will continue to be used in decades to come.
