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Dictionary.com has announced its newest Word of the Year, and it's taking people by surprise. The unexpected word has been used primarily by Gen Z, who have taken over social media with its use. The 2025 Word of the Year is, drumroll please: 6-7, which is pronounced as "six-seven," instead of "sixty-seven." Using the slang term 6-7 means "maybe this, maybe that," and "so-so." The term can be used as your palms are faced up and you take turns bringing your arms up and down, as if you're weighing two things. According to Dictionary.com, the word serves as a "linguistic time capsule, reflecting social trends and global events that defined the year." The website also stated: "Perhaps the most defining feature of 6-7 is that it's impossible to define. It's meaningless, ubiquitous, and nonsensical. Still, it remains meaningful to the people who use it because of the connection it fosters." The brand continued: "6-7 shows the speed at which a new word can rocket around the world as a rising generation enters the global conversation." 6-7 has been featured in digital media six times more in October than in all of 2024. The term 6-7's origin has been debated. Some have linked it to Skrilla's song "Doot Doot (6-7)," which was released in 2024. In the song he raps: "The way that switch, I know he dyin'. 6-7. I just bipped right on the highway." Others have traced it back to 6'7" NBA player LaMelo Ball. Some people have also mentioned "The 6-7 Kid," who ended up going viral after he consistently used the term during his basketball games. Although the term has become popular online, some social media users remain confused by it. On Reddit, one person wrote: "That’s crazy, what'd they put for the definition? Just wanna make sure they got it right." A second person commented: "This has to be a joke dictionary.com." Others commented on the Word of the Year not even being a word. One person commented: "Even if you go to dictionary.com, there is no page for 67. So it's the Word of the Year but simultaneously not a word, even by their own standards." Another person added: "Literally not a word. They had one job." A third person commented: "I'm all for kids having their things, but how is a number Word of the Year lol. Especially one that only children understand?" Director of lexicography for the Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning, Steve Johnson Ph.D. shared why he believes the word works and stated: "It's part inside joke, part social signal and part performance. When people say it, they're not just repeating a meme; they're shouting a feeling," per a press release. He continued: "It's one of the first Words of the Year that works as an interjection, [as] a burst of energy that spreads and connects people long before anyone agrees on what it actually means." The other words that we close to being chosen as the Word of the Year were "agnetic," "aura farming," "Gen Z stare," "overtourism," "tariff' and "tradwife."
