“Vibe coding,” is so last year. If you want to (try) to get on the same wavelength as teens and tweens, here’s another expression to add to your repertoire: Collins Dictionary has selected “mogging” as its 2026 word of the year. The slang term popular among Gen Z and Gen Alpha is defined as outperforming or outshining someone or something.
Believed to be a shortened version of AMOG (alpha male of the group), the word traces back to bodybuilding culture around the 2010s. But it’s soared in popularity over the past year, with younger generations using it in a more playful way. Collins noted that experts found a 210% increase in usage of the “fast-growing slang word” in 2026, meriting the “word of the year” crown.
So how do you use it? If your friend looks amazing in the selfie you just took, but your eyes are closed and hair is out of place — they’re mogging you. Or, to offer a more meta example, mogging is mogging the other words in the dictionary.
Other words on the British dictionary’s shortlist include:
Bixie: a haircut that’s shorter than a bob but longer than a pixie cut
Fricy: a blend of fruity and spicy
Friendslop: a low-budget, independently made video game designed to be played casually with friends
Carspreading: the tendency of manufacturers to build cars that are longer, wider, and heavier
Hydration break: a pause in a sporting contest to allow the contestants to drink fluids, especially in high heat
Ghost job: a role advertised by an employer who has no intention of actually hiring anyone
On Oct. 25, Dictionary.com announced its own word of the year: “Maxxing,” a shortened version of “maximizing” that can be used on its own or tacked on to the end of another word to describe the act of optimizing something.
Derived from gamer lingo and in use for over a decade, the slang term broke through on TikTok in the 2020s. Its most famous usage is perhaps “looksmaxxing,” which refers to taking a person’s appearance to its full potential, but “sleepmaxxing,” “cozymaxxing,” and “booksmaxxing” have all joined the zeitgeist as well. “Really, anything in your life can get the maxxing treatment, if you do it wholeheartedly enough,” the online dictionary wrote in a blog post.
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