The new entries are words that have demonstrated widespread use over time, according to America’s oldest dictionary publisher

NEED TO KNOW

• Merriam-Webster added 1,400 new words and definitions to its dictionary that reflect modern culture, technology and social media trends
• New entries include terms like looksmaxxing, Mandela Effect and cuffing season, plus food-related words such as bao and chilli crisp
• Words must demonstrate widespread, consistent use across industries or regions to be added

Merriam-Webster is embracing thousands of words.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Sept. 15, America’s oldest dictionary publisher announced the addition of 1,400 new words and definitions that “reflect words and meanings that have demonstrated widespread use over time, offering a window into the world today.”

“Among the new entries, social media culture provides the well-defined looksmaxxing, the unrequited parasocial, the ever-dangerous Rickroll (that link is harmless, we promise) and for some investors the potentially more dangerous meme coin,” said Merriam-Webster. 

The dictionary added that other new words highlighted include “glow-up” — referring to a dramatic enhancement in someone or something’s appearance — and “Mandela Effect,” which is described as the experience of many people having the same false memory.

“Technology brings us compute as a noun (a resource tech companies increasingly want more of), along with vibe coding and AGI (artificial general intelligence). It also brings us the uncanny valley, that creepy feeling that results from something artificial appearing almost—but not quite — human,” Merriam-Webster continued of more additions.

“Other words that identify how we live and feel today include cuffing season, ‘a time of the year when people who are not married or in a relationship begin looking for a short-term romantic partner to spend the colder months of the year with,’ plus the far less cozy Sunday scaries and crashout,” the publisher further said.

Several food-related words have similarly been added to the dictionary, including “superfood,” “cake pop,” “shishito,” “bao” and “chilli crisp.”

“Yacht rock,” “neckbeard” and “shapewear” are also among some of the other new add-ons.

According to Merriam-Webster, a word has to be used by many, who all agree on the meaning for it, in order for the word to be considered worth adding to the dictionary. Dictionary editors collect citations and research how widely the word is being used.

“If it’s a trendy flash in the pan that comes and goes, we don’t enter it into the dictionary,” the publisher said. “Widespread usually means that the word is used by people across industries or regions, in other words, that an average adult is likely to encounter the word and need to know what it means.”

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The new entries come just months before Merriam-Webster is expected to announce the word of the year. In 2025, the publisher chose “slop,” defining it as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.”

“The flood of slop in 2025 included absurd videos, off-kilter advertising images, cheesy propaganda, fake news that looks pretty real, junky AI-written books, ‘workslop’ reports that waste coworkers’ time … and lots of talking cats,” said the publisher at the time. “People found it annoying, and people ate it up.”

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