Oxford, Collins and Webster announces new words: Goblin mode, Permacrisis and Gaslighting – as new words of the year

If you have ever been “unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations” that will simply mean that you have been in Goblin mode.

Goblin mode is the newly announced word of the year by Oxford Languages after a public vote was carried out.

This will be the first time that makers of Oxford English Dictionary; Oxford Languages will be conduction a public vote you determine the word of the year. Which according to them, is a word that represents “the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the past 12 months”

The company presented three words by lexicographers and enlisted the opinions of the general public to decide which one to use.

The words includes: Metaverse, iStandWith and Goblin Mode, and Goblin Mode was by far the choice of the public with a 93% voting score of 340,000 votes.

Goblin mode which was reported to be used first back in 2009, will be coming after the word of the year for 2021 which is Vax.

To further explain the meaning of the new word, the president of the Oxford languages Casper Grathwohl, said: “Given the year we’ve just experienced, ‘goblin mode’ resonates with all of us who are feeling a little overwhelmed at this point.

“It’s a relief to acknowledge that we’re not always the idealised, curated selves that we’re encouraged to present on our Instagram and TikTok feeds.

“This has been demonstrated by the dramatic rise of platforms like BeReal where users share images of their unedited selves, often capturing self-indulgent moments in goblin mode.

“People are embracing their inner goblin, and voters choosing ‘goblin mode’ as the word of the year tells us the concept is likely here to stay.”

Mean while, other popular dictionaries like Collins has chosen “permacrisis” as its own new word. The meaning of the new word is ” an extended period of instability and security.

While Merriam Webster chose “gaslighting” which means a psychological manipulation intended to make a person question the validity of its own thoughts.

Finally Cambridge Dictionary chose the word “homer”