Forever chemicals, man-made substances in living organisms and in the environment that accumulate over time and can’t break down naturally. Like most gibberish, skibidi doesn’t actually have any direct meaning. Perhaps the most bizarre addition to the Cambridge Dictionary is skibidi. Cambridge Dictionary uses the Cambridge English Corpus, a database of more than two billion words of written and spoken English, to observe how new words are used by different people, how often and in what contexts they are used.
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Only after multiple checks does the word become part of the dictionary. The word first emerged more than a decade ago as an insult aimed at obsessive K-pop fans, mocking their conviction that they could one day date their idols. For those who haven’t ventured into the strange corners of the internet, skibidi may take some getting used to. In an Olympic first, venues used for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics will be allowed to have corporate sponsor names after LA28 and the International Olympic Committee came to a tradition-bucking agreement announced Thursday. Learned borrowing from Latin spōnsor (“a surety», in Late Latin «a sponsor in baptism”).
The Cambridge Dictionary has added over 6,000 new words, including the viral slang term «skibidi,» popularized by the Skibidi Toilet YouTube series. This addition reflects the growing influence of internet culture, particularly TikTok and meme trends, on the evolution of the English language. While some embrace these changes, others express concern about the potential loss of meaning. “It’s not every day you get to see words like skibidi and delulu make their way into the Cambridge Dictionary.
Where did the term «skibidi» come from?
Internet culture is changing the English language, and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture,” this is how Colin McIntosh, Lexical Programme Manager at Cambridge Dictionary, summed it up. Meaning, a married woman who stays at home doing cooking, cleaning, and has children that she takes care of, the dictionary definition also says a “tradwife” is “especially one who posts on social media”. Cambridge defines a tradwife as «especially one who posts on social media.»
Last on our list of highlights is a term introduced thanks to the ongoing spotlight on climate change. It sounds rather like a hark back to sometime around 1955, the days of the BBC radio’s Housewives Choice – in other words not the first phrase that comes to mind in 2025. More remote working since the pandemic helped “mouse jiggler”, meaning a device or piece of software used to make it seem as though you are working when you are not, gain its place in the dictionary. Editors then test whether a word has longevity beyond a fleeting meme, and whether its usage has spread widely enough to warrant inclusion.
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Other new entries in the dictionary include “mouse jiggler”, a post-pandemic device or piece of software used to make it seem as though you are working when you are not. Over 6,000 terms will join the lexicon, reflecting modern life with additions like «mouse jiggler» from remote working, and «forever chemical» highlighting climate change concerns. «If the word is used in many different contexts over a period of time, the lexicographers add it to the dictionary. If the lexicographers think that a new word might be ephemeral, they keep a record of it to review at a later date,» it adds.
Skibidi and tradwife make it into 2025 Cambridge dictionary – what do they mean?
Few months back, the Cambridge University Press also announced acknowledging the AI-related term “slop.” Traditionally, slop meant leftover food waste. Now, it also refers to “content on the internet that is of very low quality, especially when it is created by artificial intelligence.” So if your social feed is flooded with bad AI memes or low-effort articles, you’re scrolling through… slop. • Tradwife – “traditional wife,” a social media trend where women embrace homemaking and traditional gender roles. “Work spouse”, meanwhile, is a phrase for workplace relationships where two people help and trust each other, according to the dictionary.
The phrase has been viewed billions of times online, and even spilled into politics when Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used «delulu with no solulu» earlier this year to mock his parliamentary opponents. Delulu, meanwhile, is shorthand for delusional—the belief that personal fantasies matter more than reality. Its Cambridge entry defines it as «believing things that are not real or true, usually because you choose to.» • Broligarchy – a mix of “bro” and “oligarchy,” describing a small group of super-rich, powerful men in tech or politics. Kim Kardashian once showed off a necklace engraved with Skibidi Toilet, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used the phrase “delulu with no solulu” during a speech.
- The Cambridge Dictionary, one of the world’s widely used dictionaries, has added 6,000 new words.
- In total, Cambridge has added more than 6000 new entries this year and more than 3200 words last year making it one of the fastest-growing dictionaries in the world.
- Delulu, meanwhile, is shorthand for delusional—the belief that personal fantasies matter more than reality.
- Like most gibberish, skibidi doesn’t actually have any direct meaning.
- Merging “bro” and “oligarchy”, it refers to “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,” says the dictionary.
- Absurd characters and chaotic humour turned the show into shorthand for «brain rot» media.
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- It can mean “cool,” “bad,” or sometimes nothing at all – just used for fun.
- Learned borrowing from Latin spōnsor (“a surety», in Late Latin «a sponsor in baptism”).
- Last on our list of highlights is a term introduced thanks to the ongoing spotlight on climate change.
Delulu is a contraction of ‘delusional’ meaning, according to the dictionary ‘believing things that are not real or true, usually because you choose to’. It has since been picked up by several celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, who shared a post on Instagram in October showing a necklace her daughter had given her as a birthday present, engraved with ‘skibidi toilet’. Merging “bro” and “oligarchy”, it refers to “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,” says the dictionary. Meanwhile, new entries like “work wife” and “work spouse” acknowledge workplace relationships where two people help and trust each other, Cambridge Dictionary said. Slang term “skibidi”, a jibberish word, joined the world’s largest online dictionary in the past 12 months.
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Mr McIntosh said Cambridge Dictionary only adds words which they believe will stand the test of time. As the series evolved, so did the toilets, spawning variations like the space-themed Astro Toilets. Absurd characters and chaotic humour turned the show into shorthand for «brain rot» media. • Work wife / Work spouse – workplace partners who share a strong professional bond.
In total, Cambridge has added more than 6000 new entries this year and more than 3200 words last year making it one of the fastest-growing dictionaries in the world. Many of these words are born online, proving how TikTok, memes, and digital culture are reshaping English in real time. In fact it’s defined in the dictionary as ‘a word that can have different meanings such as ‘cool’ or ‘bad’, or can be used with no real meaning as a joke’. One of the world’s largest glossaries of words has grown by another 6,000 terms and phrases in the past 12 months, reflecting new trends and topics, from climate change to familial relationships. Delulu emerged more than 10 years ago as an insult directed at obsessive K-pop fans to question their belief that they would date their idols. The term “delulu is the solulu” for manifesting your sponsor definition in the cambridge english dictionary wishes has been viewed billions of times on TikTok.