What new words have gained popularity in the past decade? A study of search queries reveals the latest trends in language usage.
The Russian language is constantly enriched with new words, some of which quickly become part of everyday speech, while others remain a mystery to the general public. To discover which neologisms generated the most interest this year and over the past decade, experts from Yandex analyzed search queries containing the phrases “what is,” “what is this,” and “what does it mean” from 2015 to 2024. Based on this data, a top five list of the most popular unfamiliar words for each year was compiled, along with an analysis of the trends in interest towards them.
What was searched in 2024
The most popular queries of 2024 included the following words:
1. Dox
2. Skuf
3. Pikmi
4. Normis
5. Vonyonizm
Three out of these five words relate to characteristics of people. For instance, "skufs" refers to men over 30 who neglect their appearance, avoid sports, and indulge in unhealthy eating habits. "Pikmi" describes girls who strive to earn the approval of the opposite sex at all costs, while "normis" denotes a person who is unremarkable and fits average societal norms.
The term "dox" is used in phrases like “wait for the dox” or “a dox has been ordered on you.” It refers to the act of searching for confidential information online for the purpose of blackmail or other illegal activities.
The last word in the top five is "vonyonizm," a trend centered around minimalism, a healthy lifestyle, and self-sufficiency. Its rise in popularity is associated with the South Korean singer and model Chang Wonyon.
Popular neologisms over the last 10 years
Looking back from 2015 to 2024, popular words included terms related to fashion, music, technology, internet culture, and even sports. Here are some of them:
2015: craft, punchline, drip
2016: microblading, vape, dratuti
2017: spinner, flex, rise-up
2018: cringe, slime, popsocket
2019: funk, vislovo, glamping
2020: lockdown, auf, covid
2021: pop-it, simple-dimple, reels
2022: altushka, kinn, confcall
2023: splitovat, quadrobika, svatnut
Each of these words reached the top due to a sharp increase in interest recorded during the year of its popularity.
How interest in new words has changed
The analysis revealed that neologisms behave differently. Some words, like "covid" or "patimeyker," quickly lost their popularity. The former became part of everyday vocabulary, while the latter lost relevance.
Conversely, other words maintain interest for several years. For example, the popularity of terms like "funk" (a music genre) and "simp" (a person who excessively shows attention to another) persists even after years.
There are also words that gained popularity over time. For instance, interest in the term "kinn" (popular in internet cultures) continued to grow from 2022 to 2024. A similar trend can be observed with "reels" — a video format that became a hit on social media.
Every year, new words enter the Russian language, reflecting contemporary trends, internet culture, and technological advancements. Some of these words firmly establish themselves in the language, while others vanish as quickly as they appeared. Nevertheless, each of these words is a part of the living history of the language, showcasing what captivated people's interests in different years.