Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year 2024 is all about thinking positive

Cambridge Dictionary has put it out to the universe, naming “manifest” as its word of the year for 2024.

Popularized by celebrities such as singer Dua Lipa, “manifest” refers to the practice of using “methods such as visualization and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen,” the British dictionary publisher said in an announcement Wednesday.

Lipa has spoken about how she thinks manifestation has played a part in her success, helping to bring about key moments in her career, such as playing at the Glastonbury Festival this year.

“If you set an intention and you think about it every single day of your life, and for me, Glastonbury for example, when I first started making music I dreamed about the day that I would get asked to headline Glastonbury,” she said in an interview in April.

“And I’ve probably thought about it every single session that I’m in the studio, because when I write a song I think I go ‘oh what’s this going to sound like at Glastonbury?’” Lipa said.

“That in a way is setting that idea, that intention in the back of my mind,” she added. “I think it’s powerful.”

US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles has also mentioned her use of manifestation after her mother started encouraging her to write down her goals.

“You have to write it down, you have to speak it into existence, you have to see it daily and then it usually happens,” she said in an interview in October.

Taken from Latin and French, in English the word “manifest” originally meant “easily noticed or obvious” before it started to be used as a verb meaning “to show something clearly.”

In the early 20th century it started to be used to mean “to make something happen by internalizing it, intentionally or unintentionally,” according to Cambridge Dictionary.

This year marked manifesting’s move into the wider public consciousness, it said.

“In 2024, the word manifest jumped from being mainly used in the self-help community and on social media to being mentioned widely across mainstream media,” it wrote.

“The use of this sense of manifest has gained in popularity with the increasing number of ‘manifesting influencers’ promoting this scientifically unproven practice on social media—so much so that it was added to the Cambridge Dictionary in May of 2023.”

The dictionary said the word has been looked up nearly 130,000 times on its website, becoming one of its most viewed entries.

Wendalyn Nichols, Cambridge Dictionary’s publishing manager, said the word of the year pick is based on “user data, zeitgeist and language.”

“Manifest won this year because it increased notably in lookups, its use widened greatly across all types of media, and it shows how the meanings of a word can change over time,” said Nichols.

Other words on the 2024 shortlist include “brat,” inspired by the title of singer Charli XCX’s 2024 album; “ecotarian,” which references the trend towards environmentally conscious living; and “resilience,” reflecting strength and adaptability.

Earlier this month, Collins Dictionary named “brat” its word of the year, defining it as someone “characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.”