Cambridge succumbs to brainrot: ‘Skibidi’ and pals join the dictionary

Cambridge has officially adopted delulu, a delightful gen Alpha-approved word that means delusional, into its dictionary … by choice.

The esteemed dictionary also added several more brainrot words to its official definitions, including skibidi, tradwife, and broligarchy. You read that right. Stiff-collared English grammar guardians have let these brain-rotten trespassers infiltrate their white pages. 

Cambridge’s lexical program manager Colin McIntosh insists they only add words that will stick around, and in TikTok terms, that means they believe it is indeed the solulu.

Delulu started with K-pop stans, bloomed on TikTok, and then leapt into mainstream politics when Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dropped “delulu with no solulu” in Parliament. A national leader using meme slang? Verily, I have reason most ample to bethink that Master Shakespeare, in his cold and earthen bed, doth flippeth his quills with grievous discontent. 

It sounds like I’m spewing skibidi, and the term itself is a linguistic equivalent of multiple personality disorder. It has no real meaning of its own! Even the dictionary says that it can mean “cool” or “bad.” They had one job and couldn’t pin a definition to the floating nonsense. 

Even the example, “What the skibidi are you doing?” is giving toilet, just like where this term is believed to have originated from — the Skibidi Toilet animated series on YouTube. However, an earlier use of this predicament of a word is documented in the song titled “Skibidi” by Little Big. 

Further research — and a few questionable Reddit forums — from yours truly has found that the ancestors of skibidi predate to the ‘90s. In 1995, Scatman John gave us “ski-bi dibby dib yo da dub dub” in his song “Scatman,” honouring a jazz scat tradition re-imagined as Eurodance. Utterly nonsensical syllables, yet it hit no. 1 in multiple countries — sound familiar?

Before I move on to the political hot potatoes of “tradwife” and “broligarchy,” let us take a paragraph to honour Roald Dahl, the OG creator of silly words. The man gave us Oompa-Loompa, scrumdiddlyumptious, and gobblefunk. If Dahl could smuggle his gobbledygook into bedtime stories, why shouldn’t gen Alpha shove skibidi into the dictionary?

If anything, Dahl set the precedent — nonsense can stick if it delights enough people. Another honourable mention is the Urban Dictionary, the OG acceptor and definition guru of every meme, inside joke, and fleeting trend the internet spits out.

Coming to the true chaos are words like tradwife and broligarchy. The former is about women embracing “traditional” homemaking with a ring light and filters, and the second about rich tech bros running the show (P.T. Barnum, save thyself). These are sharp, satirical words with clear definitions. They belong in a dictionary. But skibidi? That one feels like inviting a toddler to scribble on a legal contract.

These aren’t the first words to emerge from the internet to join dictionaries, though. Let’s not forget our forefathers: lewk (RuPaul, you legend), inspo (pretty sure Pinterest is the brand ambassador), and more. Cambridge is basically admitting that the Urban Dictionary has been the real lexicographer all along. 

In the end, Cambridge adding these words proves one thing — language evolves where people actually live: comment sections, memes, fandoms, and political soundbites. Yes, the idea of formal lexicographers legitimizing TikTok brainrot feels delightfully delulu, but there’s a method to the madness. Cambridge may seem whimsical, even outright brainrot adjacent, but dictionaries are not dusty museums. They are living chronicles of how we communicate, meme, and dream. 

Dahl showed us nonsense could become canon. Maybe gen Alpha is just carrying the torch — though theirs burns with TikTok brainrot instead of Wonka magic. Every new word, meme, and scribble in the margins of language carries the power to spark revolution.

So tell me, how many more definitions will it take to bend the world with words?