‘Mogging’ Is Collins’ Word of the Year, and It’s All About Outshining Someone

'Mogging' is Collins' word of the year. (Photo: AI Generated)

Mogging has mogged every other word and been named Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2026. Collins defines it as “the act of outshining or outperforming someone or something.”

“Believed to be a shortening of AMOG (‘alpha male of the group’), it started life around 2016 as a noun in bodybuilding culture, referring to the most physically dominant man in the gym, before morphing into a verb and doing the rounds in the manosphere,” Rachel Quin wrote in an article for Collins.

This year, the word has entered everyday slang. “Teenagers mog elite athletes, a new video game mogs an old favourite, and your friend’s sourdough mogs the loaf you spent all weekend proving,” Quin said. “Basically, if someone or something has made you look a bit rubbish by comparison, you’ve been mogged.”

Mogging beat other contenders, including “firewave” and “ghost jobs”. Its usage rose by 210% this year, Collins said in a press release.

Last year’s winner was “vibe coding”, while “brat” took the title in 2024.

“It’s a great example of how Gen Z and Gen Alpha have adopted a word and turned it into humorous slang…

Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/lifestyle