“It’s the logical endpoint of being perpetually online, scrolling endlessly, consuming content fed to users by algorithms trained by other algorithms,” the site explains.
Skrilla’s track Doot Doot (67) is seen as the term’s origin by many, reportedly referring to Philadelphia’s police code for a death.
But the rapper confirmed to the Wall Street Journal he “never put an actual meaning on it” himself and “still would not want to”.
The number’s popularisation was then solidified by appearances in viral social media clips – infamously in a video of a basketball game that has been dubbed the “67 Kid” video.
“It’s part inside joke, part social signal and part performance,” Steve Johnson, Dictionary Media Group’s director of lexicography, told Forbes.
“When people say it, they’re not just repeating a meme; they’re shouting a feeling.”
That in-group out-group dynamic is the source of endless giggles for teenagers, who treat 67 as a kind of private joke adults don’t understand.
Linguistic generational divides are emphasised by the full list of words: other honourable mentions included “clanker”, “tradwife”, and “aura farming”, slang terms that have risen to prominence online in 2025.
“Clanker”, a memefied slur for AI, arose from cultural anxieties about advancing technology, while “tradwife” is a popular conservative relationship aesthetic.
The terms not only reflect this year’s social phenomena, but also the growing impact of internet subcultures on universal language.
While “aura farming” means curating a “presence or vibe”, the term evolved from anime and gaming culture, where the individual words have their own definitions.
Last year, “demure” took out the top title, beating out “brat”, “brainrot” and “weird”.
The term re-entered the public lexicon after appearing in Jools Lebron’s viral TikTok video, in which she described her makeup as “very demure, very mindful”.
