The Word of the Year for 2025 has been announced, leaving many puzzled.
Each year, Dictionary.com reveals its much-anticipated ‘Word of the Year’ (WOTY), which often surprises and intrigues users.
The tradition began in 2010, with the selection based on search trends and significant news events throughout the year.
Since the first word, ‘change’, was chosen 15 years ago, the list has included terms like ‘tergiversate’, ‘bluster’, and ‘privacy’. However, in recent years, there has been a shift toward more dystopian selections, such as ‘xenophobia’, ‘misinformation’ (2018), ‘existential’ (2019), and ‘pandemic’ in 2020.
In 2024, the word ‘demure’ was honored, reflecting the influence of TikTok phrases on everyday language, such as the viral “very demure, very mindful.”
For 2022, ‘woman’ was selected, pointing to the intense discussions around its definition, particularly concerning transgender identity and rights.
However, this year’s choice is unusual because it isn’t a traditional word.
Dictionary.com has designated 6,7 (pronounced six-seven) as 2025’s Word of the Year, a choice that might intrigue younger audiences.
After analyzing headlines, social media trends, and search data, lexicographers identified this phase as significant in both online and real-world conversations.
“Searches for 67 experienced a dramatic rise beginning in the summer of 2025. Since June, those searches have increased more than sixfold, and so far the surge shows no signs of stopping.
“Most other two-digit numbers had no meaningful trend over that period, implying that there is something special about 67,” Dictionary.com stated in their announcement.
This phrase gained popularity on TikTok, leading to its prohibition in some classrooms by teachers.
The trend originated from hip-hop artist Skrilla’s track ‘Doot Doot’, released in December 2024, featuring the line: “6-7, I just bipped right on the highway (bip, bip).”
The lack of a clear definition for 6,7 highlights its nature as a representation of Gen Z and Gen Alpha humor, which is often perplexing to older generations.
Despite its popularity, its meaning remains elusive, which seems to be part of its appeal.
Dictionary.com has acknowledged the difficulty in defining it, noting it’s ‘complicated’ to describe.
“It’s meaningless, ubiquitous, and nonsensical. In other words, it has all the hallmarks of brainrot. It’s the logical endpoint of being perpetually online, scrolling endlessly, consuming content fed to users by algorithms trained by other algorithms,” the site explained.
The decision has sparked a wave of criticism on social media platform X, with many expressing concerns about the choice.
Critics have noted the oddity of selecting a number as ‘word of the year’, with one remarking it’s ‘the most stupid thing I’ve ever seen’.
“I still don’t know what the f*** 6,7 is and I refuse to Google it,” commented another user, “Do not reply to me with the answer either, I want to die not knowing.”
“Just burn the dictionary now,” another person humorously suggested.
In an interesting twist, the dynamite emoji was also a strong candidate this year, as was ‘Kiss cam’, following a scandal involving Coldplay.