Dictionary.com has named its 2025 Word of the Year, and to be honest, we have no idea what it means. On Wednesday, the site bestowed its annual honor on “67,” pronounced six-seven, and even Dictionary.com can’t define it, either.
While anyone who has young children or is on TikTok has likely heard the phrase, does anyone truly know what it means? It’s an ambiguous slang term made popular on social media and in schools across the country.
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What is ‘67’?
What makes it different, however, from previous words of the year is its lack of a solid definition. The Dictionary.com entry describes the phrase as “largely nonsensical,” but it says some argue it means “so-so” or “maybe this, maybe that.”
“Because of its murky and shifting usage, it’s an example of brainrot slang and is intended to be nonsensical and playfully absurd,” the definition further reads.
So basically, there’s no definition — it’s just silly slang.
@jewasians #67 #innout #hoco #fyp ♬ original sound – jewasians
“This is not meant to be a formal definition of 67 like most terms we define on Dictionary.com,” the dictionary site said, “but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of 67 that will help our users expand their word mastery.
The reasoning behind the pick
Steve Johnson, the director of lexicography for the Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning, told CBS News that the phrase’s pervasiveness is what stood out to the team selecting this year’s top word.
“Something that you would have thought would have gone away, it just kept on growing larger and larger, snowballing into kind of like a cultural phenomenon,” Johnson said.
He acknowledged the public will likely have mixed responses to the selection. He said younger generations will appreciate it, but older generations might groan at the choice.
“This is really a new generation flexing their linguistic muscles and making a pretty phenomenal impact on the English language,” Johnson said. “That’s something to be celebrated and cheered.”
So there you have it. Love it or hate it, 67 is the 2025 word of the year.
