September 18, 2026 at 5:26pm EDT

Merriam-Webster has released its much-anticipated annual list of words newly added to the dictionary, and as always, this year’s is hilarious. That’s not only because so many of the 1,400 official new words are such amusing examples of general slang, but because some come directly from a source we are always trying to desperately understand: teen slang.

“The new entries reflect words and meanings that have demonstrated widespread use over time, offering a window into the world today,” Merrian-Webster stated in a press release about the new additions.

The iconic red dictionary is leaning in to being inspired by the language of youth, too, with a recent Instagram post providing fresh evidence. “You: How can you put ‘rizz,’ ‘skibidi,’ and ‘6-7’ in the dictionary?” it says, referring to questions from the public about some of 2025’s new slang-derived additions. For the answer, under “Us:,” there is a video snippet of Whitney Houston singing, “I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.”

So, what have the children taught us this year? The term “looksmaxxing,” for one, which is a term derived from the world of influencers in the “manosphere,” such as Clavicular. It refers to an obsessive pursuit of becoming physically attractive, which has been called out by many experts concerned with the insecurities the idea is feeding in young men.

Then there’s Sunday Scaries, which, though origins are unknown, according to the new definition, it appears to come at least in part from teens who dreaded the return to school on Monday.

Finally, there’s this new word: promposal, which, if you have a teen, is nothing new. It refers to the elaborate, typically public, social-media-posted ways that one high school kid asks another to go to the prom. Though promposals have been a thing for many years now, they’ve recently expanded to include friends asking friends to the big dance, too, celebrating open displays of platonic love.

Nice work staying on-trend and giving yourself a glow-up, Merriam-Webster.