Cambridge Dictionary adds ‘skibidi,’ ‘delulu,’ and other viral internet words

You can now look up skibidi, tradwife, and delulu in the Cambridge Dictionary. 

Among the 6,000 or so words added to the dictionary over the past year, these internet neologisms have now asserted their place in the English language, whether you like it or not. 

Most of these words are born from online culture and are popular among Gen Alpha—itself a new addition, referring to people born in the 2010s. If you haven’t spent a lot of time on TikTok, here’s a translation of some of the most chronically online language. 

Skibidi, confusingly, can have a number of different meanings, such as “cool or bad,” or can be used “with no real meaning as a joke,” according to the dictionary. 

The term was coined by the creator of Skibidi Toilet, a viral animated video series on YouTube (now being adapted into a Hollywood film) and has since taken on a life of its own. Curious how to use it in a sentence? The dictionary suggests “What the skibidi are you doing?” and “That wasn’t very skibidi rizz of you” as some options.

A play on the word delusional, delulu is defined as “believing things that are not real or true, usually because you choose to.” Popular on TikTok, with more than 150 million posts, the term has even found its way to the Parliament of Australia; Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used the phrase “delulu with no solulu” in a speech earlier this year, a surer sign than any that the internet lexicon has creeped into the mainstream.

Much has been written about the tradwife phenomemon in recent years, so much so that the portmanteau for traditional wife has now been added to the dictionary. A tradwife is defined as “a married woman, especially one who posts on social media, who stays at home doing cooking, cleaning, etc. and has children that she takes care of.” 

The term was first popularized by influencers Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farm and Nara Smith, and has since gained steam with the MAGA sect, who espouse the benefits of a conservative way of life. 

The Cambridge Dictionary defines broligarchy, a mix of bro and oligarchy, as “a small group of men, especially men owning or involved in a technology business, who are extremely rich and powerful, and who have or want political influence.”  

Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg were collectively described as broligarchs in much of the press coverage of their attendance at President Trump’s inauguration in January 2025. 

“Internet culture is changing the English language, and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the dictionary,” lexical program manager Colin McIntosh told the BBC. Last year, the Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year was the viral online term manifest: “to use methods such as visualization and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want.”

Oxford University Press went with brain rot: “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.”

The Cambridge Dictionary uses a database of more than 2 billion words of written and spoken English to keep track of new language as it appears, as well as how often and in what contexts it’s used. 

“It’s not every day you get to see words like skibidi and delulu make their way into the Cambridge Dictionary,” McIntosh said. “We only add words where we think they’ll have staying power.” While I’m yet to hear skibidi used in a sentence by any of my peers, maybe I am just delulu. 

https://www.fastcompany.com/91390813/cambridge-dictionary-adds-skibidi-delulu-and-other-viral-internet-words?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss