NEOLOGISMS 2025: New Cambridge Words

When slang slingshots into respectability

Saturdays are perfect days for lexical surprises. Surprise—we’re talking about the 2025 additions to the Cambridge Dictionary today!

To love a language means to both revere its most ancient roots and appreciate its newest manifestations. As long as a language lives, words transmute and transmogrify, often interacting unexpectedly with other roots or terms to innovate expression. Thankfully, certain dictionaries take on the Herculean task of assessing these innovations to determine which ones to incorporate into the lexicon.

To that end, Cambridge Dictionary added over 6,000 new words. What were some of the most interesting words connected to classical roots?

broligarchy (noun) - a small group of men with great wealth, power, and political influence [portmanteau of bro and oligarchy]
BREAKDOWN: BRO- (man) + OLIG- (few) + -ARCH (rule) + -Y (state of)

delulu (adj) - maintaining false or unrealistic beliefs; deluded or delusional
BREAKDOWN: DE- (down) + LUD- (to play) + -ION (state) + -AL (pertaining to)

inspo (noun) - an often sudden impulse feeling of creativity, insight, and energy or a source of such a feeling [diminutive of inspiration]
BREAKDOWN: IN- (in) + SPIR- (to breathe) + -ATION (process of)

nanoship (noun) - a brief and transitory romantic fling with no expectations [variant of relationship]
BREAKDOWN: NANO- (tiny) + -SHIP (state or office of)

tradwife (noun) - a woman pursuing and often sharing on social media a traditional homemaker lifestyle [portmanteau of tradition and wife]
BREAKDOWN: TRA- (across, over) + DIT- (to give) + -ION (state or act of) + WIF- (woman, female partner)

Interestingly, some of the most popular words are eponymous, based on people’s names:

mewing (noun) - the act of looking or trying to look attractive by developing or flaunting a sharp jawline [named for orthodontist John Mew]

Fanum tax (noun) - the act of or excuse for playfully stealing food [named for Twitch streamer Fanum]

Less interestingly, some of the words are just ridiculous–I’m looking at you, skibidi!

What are your favorite new additions to the lexicon?

“Broligarchy: Oligarchs, but this time it's tech bros.” –Frederik De Bosschere