Dictionary.com reveals '67' is its 2025 Word of the Year
Dictionary.com has officially revealed its newest Word of the Year.
The online dictionary announced Wednesday that "67" is the 2025 Word of the Year.
The annual pick serves as a "linguistic time capsule, reflecting social trends and global events that defined the year," according to Dictionary.com.
The term's exact origin is a bit unclear. Teachers and parents began hearing kids and teenagers use the term over the course of this year, and some say it can be interpreted as another way of saying "so-so," "maybe this" or "maybe that," the dictionary states.
Dictionary.com further explained that the term is a result of classic brainrot slang, which is "purposefully nonsensical and all about being in on the absurdity."
The term "67" -- pronounced "six-seven" and never "sixty-seven," the dictionary notes -- has a vast lore. It can be traced back to Skrilla's 2024 song "Doot Doot (6 7)," while others have linked it to NBA player LaMelo Ball, who is 6 feet, 7 inches tall.
A boy now known as "The 67 Kid" also went viral earlier this year for using the term at a youth basketball game.
"It's part inside joke, part social signal and part performance," Steve Johnson, Ph.D., director of lexicography for the Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning, said in a press release. "When people say it, they're not just repeating a meme; they're shouting a feeling."
Johnson continued, "It's one of the first Words of the Year that works as an interjection -- a burst of energy that spreads and connects people long before anyone agrees on what it actually means."
According to a Dictionary.com analysis, "67" appeared in digital media six times more frequently in October alone than it did throughout all of 2024.
"'67' shows the speed at which a new word can rocket around the world as a rising generation enters the global conversation," the dictionary stated.
Other terms that made the shortlist of finalists for this year's Word of the Year included "agentic," "aura farming," "Gen Z stare," "overtourism," "tariff" and "tradwife."
