‘Brat’ is Collins Dictionary’s word of the year

“I’m a brat when I’m bumpin’ that,” sings Charli xcx on her single “360” from her sixth studio album, Brat. As Charli explained in a TikTok video, a “brat” is a girl who “is a little messy and likes to party, and maybe does dumb things sometimes, who feels herself but then also has a breakdown but kind of parties through it, is very honest, very blunt, very volatile – that’s brat. You’re brat.” Since the album’s release, the word has taken on a life of its own. The album’s jarring shade of green has become known as ‘brat green’; we’ve had ‘brat summer’; and even the potential future leader of the United States, Kamala Harris, embraced the term when she announced her presidential campaign.

@charlixcx what it means to be a brat 🙂 #OffTheRecord ♬ Club classics – Charli xcx

This cultural surge has led to ‘brat’ being crowned Word of the Year by the Collins English Dictionary. Originally, Collins defined a ‘brat’ as “someone, especially a child… who behaves badly or annoys others.” But this year, it’s been redefined as “characterised by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.”

The other words in the top ten list include ‘brain rot,’ ‘era’ (popularised by Taylor Swift’s Eras tour), ‘looksmaxxing,’ ‘rawdogging,’ ‘delulu,’ ‘yapping,’ ‘anti-tourism,’ ‘supermajority,’ and ‘romantasy’ (a blend of romantic fiction and fantasy).