If you haven’t heard the term, well, perhaps you’ve been spending too much time on activities that do rot your brain, like binge-watching or doomscrolling. Oxford said this week that the phrase “gained new prominence in 2024,” as it was used about 230% more than in 2023.

With more than 37,000 votes, Oxford picked the Gen Alpha slang term "brain rot" as its 2024 Word of the Year. Here's what the term means.