Dictionary.com has announced that the viral “demure” is its 2024 Word of the Year, a term that gained widespread popularity thanks to TikTok.
According to the online dictionary, the word saw a 1,200% surge in usage from January to August, driven largely by TikTok creator Jools Lebron, who went viral for her catchphrase, “very demure, very mindful.”
Traditionally, “demure” has been used to describe someone as modest, reserved, or quiet, but it’s now being used to express a more “refined and sophisticated” style or behavior in various contexts.
“The rise and spread of the term on social media resulted in a similar increase in search interest on Google. Between August 2023 and July 2024, there was no significant trend in the usage of the word demure. By the week of August 18, 2024, however, there was almost 14 times more interest in the term, highlighting the term’s almost overnight explosion in popularity. At the peak of the trend, demure had 200 times more searches on Dictionary.com than it did on dates preceding August,” the site reports.
Dictionary.com selects its Word of the Year based on data from newsworthy events, social media trends, and search engine analysis, choosing words that make a significant impact both online and offline.
Meanwhile, the 2023 Word of the Year was “hallucinate,” reflecting concerns over false information related to artificial intelligence.