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Slang file #022RisingInternet culture

What does brainrot mean?

Say itBRAYN-rot/ˈbreɪn.rɑːt/noun

A dull, unfocused state of mind that people blame on watching too much silly, low-quality online content, or that kind of content itself.

Written by the Second Language TeamWritten

Brainrot is the slow, empty feeling your mind gets after you watch too much silly, low-quality content online. It can also mean the content itself: short, loud, fast videos and memes that make little sense. You will see it on TikTok, in YouTube comments, in group chats, and now in the news. Oxford even named it Word of the Year for 2024 [1].

Say it like one word: BRAYN-rot. You will also see it written brain rot or brain-rot, and all three are correct. It is informal and a little critical, but not rude. Teens and kids often say it as a joke about themselves, while parents more often use it to complain about what kids watch.

Word stats

How casual
Informal, but news sites put it in headlines, so it is not only for close friends.
OK at work
Fine in a chat about your weekend scrolling. In a report, write “low-quality content” instead.
Grandma-safe
Safe to say, but calling your nephew’s favorite videos brainrot might start a long argument at dinner.
Cringe risk
Low. Kids, parents, and news anchors all say it now. Saying “skibidi” to sound young is a different story.
Freshness
One of the biggest words of the 2020s, and more people look it up every year.

Spotted in the wild

Group chat · Sunday, 2:15 am
  1. Jinwhy are you still online
  2. Youi opened tiktok at 10 to check one thing. it is now 2am. full brainrot
  3. Analol put the phone down and sleep

What it means here: You joke that your mind feels empty after four hours of short videos.

YouTube comments
  1. pixel_danithis is pure brainrot and i’ve watched it 11 times
  2. kofi.mp4the song at 0:42 lives in my head now 😭

What it means here: Here brainrot means the video itself: silly, loud, and hard to stop watching.

Text with Mom
  1. MomYour brother said “skibidi” at the dinner table again
  2. MomIs this the brainrot everyone talks about?
  3. Youyes. don’t worry, it’s a phase 😅
  4. MomI’m hiding the tablet

What it means here: Mom uses brainrot for the strange meme words her son picked up from videos.

How to use it

  • give someone brainrotThat app gives me brainrot every single night.
  • have brainrotSorry, I can’t focus. I have brainrot from scrolling all morning.
  • brainrot + nounMy feed is full of brainrot videos and I can’t stop.
  • pure / total brainrotThat show is pure brainrot, and I love it.
  • rot your brain (the older verb form)My dad says those videos will rot my brain.

Don’t say it like this

  • Sounds offI have a brainrot.

    Say thisI have brainrot.

    Brainrot is uncountable, like “homework” or “music”, so it takes no “a”.

  • Sounds offStudies show brainrot damages the brain. (in a school essay)

    Say thisMany people worry that short videos hurt their focus.

    Brainrot is slang, not a medical condition, and scientists have found no evidence of real brain damage from phone use [2].

  • Sounds offYour hobby is brainrot.

    Say thisLol this video is giving me brainrot.

    The word is critical. Aim it at content or at yourself, not at a person’s interests, or you will sound dismissive.

brainrot or not?

Is each of these brainrot? Pick an answer to find out.

  1. You watch silly short videos for three hours, then forget why you opened your phone.

  2. You feel tired and slow for a week after a bad cold.

  3. Your little brother keeps shouting random meme words he learned from videos.

  4. You read a long, difficult book and find it a bit boring.

The brainrot family

  • doomscrollingScrolling through bad news or endless posts for far too long.The activity. Brainrot is how you feel afterward.
  • skibidiA nonsense word from the Skibidi Toilet videos that can mean almost anything, or nothing.Peak brainrot language. Nobody can explain it, and that is the point.
  • slopCheap, low-quality online content, often made quickly with AI.What brainrot eats for breakfast.

Where it came from

  1. 1854In his book Walden, the American writer Henry David Thoreau uses “brain-rot” to criticize people who prefer simple ideas to difficult ones. No phones yet, so this is the older, general sense [1].
  2. 2009Merriam-Webster gives this year as the first known use of the modern sense: a decline blamed on shallow or addictive online content [3].
  3. 2 December 2024Oxford University Press names brain rot its Word of the Year after more than 37,000 public votes. Its use grew 230% from 2023 to 2024, after it caught on with young people on TikTok [1].
  4. 26 June 2025Brain rot is added to the Oxford English Dictionary in a regular update [2].

Brainrot, brain fog, or doomscrolling?

These three words often show up together, but they mean different things.

TermWhat it isUsual cause
BrainrotA dull, silly state of mind, or the content that causes itToo many short, shallow videos and memes
Brain fogTrouble thinking clearly or remembering thingsBeing tired, sick, or stressed
DoomscrollingThe habit of scrolling for too longBad news or a feed that never ends

Brainrot is not a medical condition. Dictionaries call it a supposed or perceived decline, and scientists say there is no evidence that phones or social media actually damage the brain this way [2]. Brain fog is the more serious word. Brainrot is mostly a joke about how you spent your evening.

Sources

  1. 'Brain rot' named Oxford Word of the Year 2024Oxford University Press, 2 December 2024
  2. Brain rot added to the Oxford English DictionaryOxford University Press, 26 June 2025
  3. BRAINROT Definition & MeaningMerriam-Webster

More slang to decode

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