Word of the year has been announced as Gen Z and celebs can’t stop using it

The word of the year has finally been announced and it seems hardly a surprise given that Gen Z and celebs are seemingly unable to stop using it.

Now, we already know Collins Dictionary named 'brat' as its word of the year while Oxford Dictionary's is controversially 'brain rot' but Cambridge Dictionary has opted for an entirely different one altogether.

The word in question was looked up almost 130,000 times on the Cambridge Dictionary website - making it one of the most viewed words of 2024.

The word was popularised by celebs like Dua Lipa and Sabrina Carpenter (Harry Durrant / Contributor / Getty Images)

It's also 600 years old and was once a fairly formal word when used back in the day, making its more modern definition world's apart from its original meaning which was first used in English as an adjective meaning 'easily noticed or obvious', then a verb that meant 'to show something clearly'.

The word in question, which has roots in Latin and French, is 'manifest' and it's been defined as: "To use methods such as visualisation and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen."

So, what's the reasoning behind why this centuries-old word has become so popular all of a sudden?

Well, this year, the word 'manifest' jumped from being 'mainly used in the self-help community and on social media to being mentioned widely across mainstream media'.

Sabrina Carpenter was hailed a 'manifesting queen' after performing alongside Taylor Swift during the Eras Tour (TAS2024 / Contributor / Getty Images)

Cambridge Dictionary explains: "When famous performers, star athletes, and influential entrepreneurs claim they have achieved something because they manifested it, they are using this verb in a more recent sense: to use specific practices to focus your mind on something you want, to try to make it become a reality.

"The use of this sense of 'manifest' has gained in popularity with the increasing number of 'manifesting influencers' promoting this scientifically unproven practice on social media - so much so that it was added to the Cambridge Dictionary in May of 2023."

Earlier this year, we saw fans of 'Espresso' singer Sabrina Carpenter dub her a 'manifesting queen' following her Eras Tour appearance with Taylor Swift while 'One Kiss' star Dua Lipa said she manifested her concert for a crowd of more than 100,000 adoring fans at Glastonbury Festival back in June.

Wendalyn Nichols, the publishing manager of the Cambridge Dictionary, added that the use of the word 'manifest' had 'widened greatly across all types of media due to events in 2024, and it shows how the meanings of a word can change over time'.