Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
Collins Dictionary has selected the adjective ‘brat’ as the 2024 Word of the Year (WOTY). The noun ‘brat’ is hardly new, since it appears as early as the 1500s, in Songes & Sonettes, to express a child in contempt of the law, according to etymological information found in the Oxford English Dictionary. A meaning that has evidently evolved into a far more popular form of outlaw, combining rebellion, freedom, irreverence, and love.
The term surged during a "brat summer" with the latest charli XCV, techno-pop, hit album, titled brat. Collins defines the adjective ‘brat’ as “characterized by a confident, independent and hedonistic attitude.” On the wild side of this transformed use of the term, the political slogan “Kamala is brat” also went viral.
Below, the Collins GIF file, animating the adjective ‘brat’, the Collins Dictionary, 2024 WOTY.