Brain rot

2 days ago - In Internet culture, the term brain rot (also written as brainrot) describes digital media deemed to be of low quality or value. The term also more broadly refers to the harmful effects associated with excessive or disordered use of digital media, especially short-form entertainment and ...

Both the state of preoccupation and resulting mental degradation are known as brain rot. The word is also spelled as brainrot, brain-rot.

October 15, 2025 - Chosen as Oxford’s Word of the Year in 2024, the term describes consuming excessive, low-quality content on social media and the resulting mental fog that accompanies it. “‘Brain rot’ is when internet trends and jokes are going through ...

June 26, 2025 - After two weeks of public voting and widespread conversation, our experts came together to consider the public’s input, voting results, and our language data, before declaring ‘brain rot’ as the definitive Word of the Year for 2024. ‘Brain rot’ is defined as “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.

December 11, 2025 - Generational Identity: For Gen Z and Gen Alpha, using brain rot words is a way to signal belonging, creativity, and a sense of irony. It’s also a playful pushback against older generations’ expectations of “proper” language (Psychology Today).

October 22, 2024 - “Brain rot” refers to a collection of phrases, terms, and internet slang embedded in online culture. It’s almost a measurement of how “online” someone is, with extensive knowledge ...

Brain rot essentially rots your brain down and starts showing signs of people having reduced vocabulary. People start opting for simpler sentences, abbreviations, and alternative ways and words to communicate.

While it’s usually meant to be funny, people call it “brainrot” as a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that this kind of mindless entertainment is slowly “rotting their brain.” · Brainrot slang has originated online among the younger ...

It can even lead them to become someone who is termed, chronically online. They constantly use slang words and phrases that make no sense to others, and this can cause a chasm with friends and family.

December 1, 2025 - But the phenomenon itself—seeking out intentionally stupid content, creating absurdist language, building identity through digital nonsense—that’s probably here to stay. Gen Alpha is growing up in an attention economy that rewards the ...

March 14, 2025 - Brain rot is a slang term describing both the cause and the result of the decline of critical thinking and attention span due to excessive exposure to low-effort content, especially from social media, memes, YouTube videos, and repetitive online ...

September 6, 2025 - Most compelling, these terms and viral catchphrases serve as a secret language that Gen Alpha kids can understand, but leave parents mystified. The fast spread of brain rot means the terms’ meanings are always shifting, making it even harder for “outsiders” to decode what children and teens are saying. To make things even more complicated, terms like “skibidi” can mean different things, including “bad” or “cool.” Plus, some terms have original meanings, such as “sigma,” which is connected to social hierarchies in wolf packs.

December 3, 2024 - Vanessa Croft, mom of three and middle school teacher with an MA in English Language, defines it as “any collection of phrases or words which are understood purely in the context of their use on social media platforms.” · She adds that ...

Grathwohl suggests the antidote to these brain rot words is "being present and living in our real lives." How very Thoreau of him! Meanwhile, your niece proudly identifies as a "brain-rot kid" while using these same brain rot words to demonstrate her self-awareness about digital consumption. Perhaps these brain rot words aren't just describing our deteriorating attention spans—they're also showcasing our evolving relationship with language itself!

For more quotations using this term, see Citations:brain rot. (slang, derogatory) Any form of media content that is deemed to hold little artistic value or negatively impact those who consume it.

June 26, 2025 - “Brain rot” is a slang term for mental decline from too much exposure to low-quality content, often linked to excessive social media or screen time.

December 1, 2024 - Prof Przybylski says "there's no evidence of brain rot actually being a thing". "Instead it describes our dissatisfaction with the online world and it's a word that we can use to bundle our anxieties that we have around social media." Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages, says looking back at the Oxford Word of the Year over the last two decades "you can see society's growing preoccupation with how our virtual lives are evolving, the way internet culture is permeating so much of who we are and what we talk about".

March 28, 2025 - Brainrot, sometimes spelled brain rot, is a slang term used to describe the effects of being “perpetually online” and consuming large amounts of low-value internet content. The term, which can be used as both a noun and verb, is also used ...

2 meanings: informal 1. an inability to think clearly caused by excessive consumption of low-quality online content 2..... Click for more definitions.

They’re the language of being chronically online: quick, catchy, and often intentionally absurd or nonsensical. Origin: Many brain rot words are born in meme culture, gaming forums, or viral videos, where inside jokes and references spread rapidly across social media.