What is brain rot? Oxford University Press announces word of the year for 2024

TikTok inspires 19th century term’s surprising comeback

There is more to read than ever, yet brain rot is on the rise

Pexels / Kaboompics.com / Karolina Grabowska

William Mata2 December 2024

Oxford University Press has named ‘brain rot’ its word of the year, a term that has become lamentably relatable for many in 2024.

The very modern condition has become so apparent that it has been deemed a greater factor in our lives than other contenders such as ‘demure’ and ‘dynamic pricing’.

It relates to sufferers of the often unhelpful but nonetheless compulsive act of scrolling mindlessly through Instagram or TikTok reels.

Fear not, the term has no scientific basis and you do not need to worry about an NHS warning complete with graphic cigarette-packaging style images.

Nevertheless, Andrew Przybylski, a psychologist and professor at Oxford University, has told the BBC that it is a "symptom of the time we're living in".

Here is what it all means.

For better or worse, 5G is now powering phones just about everywhere - making a switch off tricky

What is brain rot?

The first recorded use of ‘brain rot’ was found in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden - according to Oxford University Press.

“While England endeavours to cure the potato rot, will not any endeavour to cure the brain rot – which prevails so much more widely and fatally?” he wrote.

He used the phrase to criticise society’s tendency to devalue complex ideas in favour of simple solutions.

The fact that the term has come back into use is emblematic of both how much and how little the world has changed since then.

Oxford University Press has said that the term has taken on a new significance in the past 12 months “particularly on TikTok among Gen Z and Gen Alpha communities”.

Its definition reads: “In 2024, ‘brain rot’ is used to describe both the cause and effect of this, referring to low-quality, low-value content found on social media and the internet, as well as the subsequent negative impact that consuming this type of content is perceived to have on an individual or society.”

The term can be applied to oneself in a self-deprecating way (“mega brain rot after watching five episodes of The Big Bang Theory”).

But it is also suggestive of a more serious problem and the Newport Institute has even published advice on how to avoid it.

Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, said: “I find it fascinating that the term ‘brain rot’ has been adopted by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, those communities largely responsible for the use and creation of the digital content the term refers to.

“These communities have amplified the expression through social media channels, the very place said to cause ‘brain rot’. It demonstrates a somewhat cheeky self-awareness in the younger generations about the harmful impact of social media that they’ve inherited.”