Celebrating 20 years
The Oxford Word of the Year has highlighted the language that has shaped our conversations for the past two decades.
We’re delighted to celebrate our 20th anniversary this year, as we reflect on the words that stood the test of time, as well as the ones that captured a moment.
Our approach
Each year, our expert lexicographers analyze data and trends to identify new and emerging words, and examine the shifts in how more established words are being used.
The team also consider suggestions from our colleagues and the public, and look back at the world’s most influential moments of the year to inform their shortlist—culminating in a word or expression of cultural significance.
Defining the past 20 years
Find out all about the history of Oxford Word of the Year with us.
We take a look at our past winners and shortlisted candidates, and explore some of the key themes, developments, and moods that they have captured over the years.
Recent winners
Read more about some of our winning words and how we chose them, with insights shared by our Oxford Languages team.
2023: Rizz
Through head-to-head contests held over an action-packed four-day period, over 30,000 people whittled a shortlist of eight words down to four finalists—rizz, Swiftie, situationship, and prompt. Our language experts considered our corpus data, the number of votes, and public commentary, before we announced rizz as the Oxford Word of the Year 2023.
2022: Goblin mode
As the world began to open up after the pandemic, we opened up the Oxford Word of the Year to a public vote in 2022—the first time in our history—giving people worldwide a chance to choose from our shortlist. Over 340,000 votes later, goblin mode took the crown with a 93% share of the vote, beating metaverse and #IStandWith.
2021: Vax
As Covid vaccinations began to roll out, we noticed the growth of the term ‘vax’ and its multiple derivatives, and the range of contexts it was being used in—such as getting vaxxed, fully vaxxed, and vax cards.
2020: Words of an Unprecedented Year
We decided that we could not sum up the events of 2020 and the pandemic with a single word, given the range and speed of change during the year. Instead, we released a report on the Words of an Unprecedented Year.
2019: Climate emergency
Heightened public awareness of climate science and the implications for communities around the world generated enormous discussion around the world. In 2019, our research found an escalation in the language people use to articulate information and ideas concerning the climate—leading us to name climate emergency as Word of the Year and to compile a themed shortlist of words increasingly being used about the climate.
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