Brat Summer may be long over, but it's evidently never to be forgotten — to the point where it has kind of overtaken the rest of the calendar year. If Charli XCX being set to appear on Saturday Night Live as both host and musical guest later this month hadn't already cemented it, we can thank the scrupulous folks at Collins Dictionary for putting it in the fine print: they've named "brat" as 2024's Word of the Year.
Succeeding 2023's much less fun word of the year, "AI," Collins has newly defined "brat" as "characterized by a confident, independent and hedonistic attitude." As the UK-based dictionary publisher wrote in a statement announcing the news, "More than a hugely successful album, 'brat' is a cultural phenomenon that has resonated with people globally, and 'brat summer' established itself as an aesthetic and a way of life."
Charli was credited with making "brat" one of the most talked about words of 2024, with the artist herself having described her album's titular essence as "that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes; who feels herself but maybe also has a breakdown, but kind of like, parties through it," on TikTok.
"Brat" beat out other shortlisted words like "brainrot," "delulu," "rawdogging," "yapping" and "anti-tourism." You could certainly say it's been a year.