From ‘Sunday Scaries’ and ‘Whack-a-Mole’ to ‘Looksmaxxing’ and ‘Cuffing Season,’ These Are the Newest Words in the Dictionary

Merriam-Webster’s update includes 1,400 words that have demonstrated frequent, widespread and meaningful use

Sarah Kuta | Daily Correspondent

September 21, 2026 9:28 a.m.

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Some words spend years being used in everyday conversation before they officially make it into the dictionary. Now, “looksmaxxing,” “glow-up,” “crashout” and hundreds of other words have made the leap, as Merriam-Webster unveils its latest update. 

Merriam-Webster may be the oldest dictionary publisher in America, dating back to 1843, but that doesn’t mean its pages are stuck in the past. It routinely adds new words and definitions to its catalog of the English language, which serves as an ever-evolving record of how people express themselves. 

“A dictionary isn’t an idea museum; it’s a user’s manual for communication,” according to Merriam-Webster. 

The 1,400 newest additions, announced September 15, “reflect words and meanings that have demonstrated widespread use over time, offering a window into the world today,” the company wrote in a blog post. All of the new entries appear on Merriam-Webster.com, and some will also be included in upcoming print editions of the dictionary. 

The latest update didn’t have a theme, Gregory Barlow, Merriam-Webster’s president, tells the New York Times’ Michael Levenson. However, he says, the company’s wordsmiths “can see that online culture and social media increasingly generate new language.” 

“Conversation on social platforms creates fertile soil in which new words crop up and spread,” he adds. 

For instance, social media culture has given rise to “looksmaxxing,” which Merriam-Webster defines as “the practice of taking one or more sometimes extreme or dangerous measures intended to increase one’s physical attractiveness.” Another new entry, “parasocial,” describes a one-sided relationship—often facilitated by the internet—with a public figure or fictional character. To “Rickroll” someone is to trick them into listening to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” 

Several food-related words appear in the new batch, including “cake pop,” a sugary sweet treat made from compressed cake crumbs and icing, and “chili crisp,” a savory, often spicy condiment made from fried onions, garlic, chili peppers and oil. “Superfood” is a blanket term for nutrient-rich ingredients like blueberries, salmon and broccoli. 

Several of the newly added terms offer colorful names for familiar emotions, behaviors and situations. Those anxious feelings you get before starting a new week? They’re the “Sunday scaries.” If you can never seem to get ahead of a problem, you’re likely playing “whack-a-mole.” And if you’re having a mental or emotional breakdown, you might call it a “crashout.”

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The new entries also dropped just in time for “cuffing season,” or the period when single people “begin looking for a short-term romantic partner to spend the colder months of the year with,” per Merriam-Webster.

“Words like ‘cuffing season’ and ‘looksmaxxing’ are widely used now, and people want to know what they mean, so we’re serving our audience by defining them,” Barlow tells the Times. “The online dictionary has limitless space to add all the words that merit inclusion, even if some words turn out to be relatively ephemeral.”

Merriam-Webster typically adds around 1,000 new entries each year. The process is relatively informal, with the company’s lexicographers determining whether they have enough evidence for inclusion based on three criteria: frequent use, widespread use and meaningful use. 

“A word gets into a dictionary when it is used by many people who all agree that it means the same thing,” according to Merriam-Webster. 

Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.