Dictionary.com has selected its 2024 word of the year. The online dictionary platform revealed that it had chosen “demure,” a word that went viral in the summer when TikToker Jools Lebron popularized it.
“The Word of the Year isn’t just about popular usage; it reveals the stories we tell about ourselves and how we’ve changed over the year,” the announcement read. For the website, demure was apparently a no-brainer after it had 200 times more searches on Dictionary.com and a 1200 per cent boost in usage in digital media between January and September this year.
Demure beat out several other contenders, including Brainrot, Brat, Extreme Weather, Midwest Nice, and Weird, which were included on Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year shortlist.
Demure took off on TikTok in August, with Lebron coining the phrase “very demure, very mindful” in a series of insanely viral videos. The influencer often paired demure with terms like “cutesy” and “considerate,” sharing advice on how to be modest and respectful in various settings, such as “how to be demure and respectful at the workplace.”
Lebron said the meme was born when she was on break from her cashier job, crying in her car. She pulled out her phone to check whether her makeup was running and shot the video.
“That video changed my life,” she said, before encouraging her followers to post their own content.
According to the platform, demure is “characterized by shyness and modesty; reserved.” But once Lebron breathed new life into the word, being demure applied to any situation, whether driving, eating, or putting on makeup. Lebron flipped its meaning too, allowing people to instead express a “quiet confidence,” per Dictionary.com’s statement to Time.
Last year, the online dictionary chose “hallucinate” for its word of the year, while Merriam-Webster chose “authentic.”
