The English language has never stood inert, but in 2025, it seems to be challenging the speed of TikTok. The Cambridge Dictionary has added more than 6,200 new words, phrases, and meanings this year—among them the internet-born skibidi, delulu, and tradwife. Together, they showcase how online culture, politics, and shifting social values are rewriting the way we speak. Broadly speaking, it is the Gen-Z slang, viral memes, workplace jargon, and climate concerns that shape the 6,200 new additions.
Colin McIntosh, Lexical Programme Manager at Cambridge Dictionary, summed it up this way: “Internet culture is changing the English language, and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture.”
Viral Words Go Mainstream
Let’s take skibidi. Once the name of a 2018 viral dance track by Russian band Little Big, it now appears in the Dictionary as a playful, catch-all slang word meaning “cool,” “bad,” or simply nothing at all. It even made its way into Kim Kardashian’s Instagram feed, engraved on a necklace referencing the YouTube hit “Skibidi Toilet.”
Meanwhile, delulu—Gen-Z shorthand for delusional- leapt from stan culture into politics when Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese quipped about being “delulu with no solulu” during a parliamentary debate.
Social Trends in Words get more buzz
Not all new entries are lighthearted. The rise of the tradwife (traditional wife) reflects a growing, often controversial online movement where women embrace domestic roles of cooking, cleaning, and raising children. Influencers such as Hannah Neeleman of @ballerinafarm embody the trend, while actress Millie Bobby Brown’s farm life drew similar comparisons.
Fashion journalism also claims space with lewk (a bold, stylish outfit), while inspo, short version for inspiration, continues to thrive as a hashtag for everything from fitness to décor.
Tech and Work Culture get a say
Workplace life isn’t left behind. Snackable content, short, easily consumed media. captures our shrinking attention spans. Remote workers may chuckle at the inclusion of mouse jiggler, a tool that fakes computer activity to appear online. And terms like work wife and work spouse recognise close professional partnerships.
Social media’s favorite red-flag/green-flag language has also found a home, moving from dating apps to everyday conversation.
Climate and Politics get some freshness
Beyond slang, serious concerns shape entries such as forever chemical (toxic, long-lasting pollutants) and RAAC (a controversial building material found in unsafe UK schools). Even politics gets its neologisms: broligarchy describes a powerful tech elite, like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, flexing wealth and influence.
Cambridge continues to be one of the fastest-growing dictionaries, tracking how language evolves in step with culture, politics, and technology. With more than six thousand fresh entries, this 2025 update proves that English is more than a language, as it is a living record of how we live, laugh, argue, and adapt in real time.
