In a sign of changing times, Cambridge Dictionary has added more than 6,000 new words this year, including slang shaped by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, such as skibidi, delulu and tradwife.
“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. “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.”
Skibidi is 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”. An example of its use is “What the skibidi are you doing?” Children often use it to add emphasis to statements.
The phrase gained popularity thanks to a viral animated video series on YouTube called Skibidi Toilet, which features human heads protruding from lavatories.
Meanwhile, some shortened versions of existing terms have been added, including “delulu” which is a play on the word “delusional”. It has a similar definition: “believing things that are not real or true, usually because you choose to”. Earlier this year, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used the phrase “delulu with no solulu” to attack his opponents in parliament.
Tradwife, which dates back to at least 2020, is short for “traditional wife” but is a bit of a controversial term.
It refers to a married woman who embraces traditional gender roles and posts on social media while focusing on homemaking and supporting her husband by raising the children, cooking and keeping the house clean, while he serves as the breadwinner.
Other words added include some composite terms such as “broligarchy”. Merging “bro” and “oligarchy”, it means “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”.
It was used to describe tech leaders Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk attending US President Donald Trump's inauguration in January.
Meanwhile, other terms added include work spouse, a workplace relationship where two people help and trust each other; lewk, a play on the word look, meaning a particular style or fashion or outfit, especially one that is unusual and impressive; and mouse jiggler, a post-pandemic device or piece of software used to make it seem as though you are working when you are not.
