‘Skibidi’, ‘Delulu’ in Cambridge Dictionary Show How Gen Z & Alpha Shape Language

By Danial Martinus  •  18 Aug 2025 in News

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If you’ve been feeling increasingly delulu about the state of the English language, well, you’re definitely not alone.

The Cambridge Dictionary has just added a fresh batch of words that prove, once and for all, that Gen Z and their younger Alpha cousins are firmly in charge of how we speak. For better or worse, “skibidi”, “tradwife”, and “delulu” are now officially part of the lexicon.

Yeah. Skibidi.

Confusing and chaotic, but it’s a sign of changing times

As a millennial, I’m not ashamed to admit I had to Google half of these before I understood what was going on. Even then, I’m still not convinced I “get it”. According to Cambridge, skibidi can mean “cool”, “bad”, or absolutely nothing at all. In other words, it’s the Swiss Army knife of nonsense.

The official example sentence? “What the skibidi are you doing?” Which, if you ask me, feels like the linguistic equivalent of a shrugging emoji.

For context, the word blew up thanks to Skibidi Toilet: a surreal animated video series where human heads emerge from lavatories. Why do they do that, you ask? I don’t know. I also don’t think I want to know.

To put it simply, it’s part of a whole host of words and phrases that encapsulate a generation fluent in irony but completely devoid of meaning (I think).

And then there’s “tradwife,” which is much less chaotic, but even more controversial. A tradwife, the dictionary tells us, is a woman who embraces traditional gender roles (cooking, cleaning, raising children) often while documenting it for TikTok or Instagram. It’s basically cottagecore with a heaping dose of patriarchy.

It actually dates all the way back to 2020, but its addition to the Cambridge Dictionary makes it feel more solid, less fringe. Whether that’s progress or regression depends entirely on your stance on feminism, domestic labour, and viral sourdough tutorials.

Up next is delulu. At first glance, it’s a harmless abbreviation of “delusional”. But the TikTok era has given it new flavour. “Delulu is the solulu” is a phrase used to describe manifesting your wildest dreams, say, believing you’ll marry your K-pop idol if you just will it hard enough.

But not all the additions are completely TikTok-coded. Cambridge also snuck in broligarchy: a word describing tech billionaires who basically run the world. It’s a mash-up of “bro” and “oligarchy”, which I can already hear some start-up founder trying to reclaim unironically in his next keynote.

Then there’s mouse jiggler, the work-from-home gadget (or software) that moves your cursor so it looks like you’re busy when you’re definitely not. A modern classic that everyone who worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic is familiar with.

And finally, work spouse: a term for that colleague who isn’t your actual partner but feels like one, minus the romance.

Embrace the change (you don’t really have much of a choice)

On one hand, it’s easy to dismiss all of this as internet chaos spilling into print. But Cambridge’s editors insist they only add words with staying power. In other words, these terms are here to stay. And honestly, isn’t that how language has always evolved?

Still, I can’t help but feel slightly uncool trying to keep up. My generation grew up saying “YOLO”, “on fleek”, and “totes”, and even those feel like ancient relics now. Yet here we are, living in a world where “delulu” might one day appear in a university essay, and “skibidi” could turn up in a boardroom presentation. When that time comes, I’ll be ready (hopefully).

Language is a mirror. And right now, the reflection staring back at us is a toilet with a human head popping out, shouting “skibidi”. Send help. Or, I suppose, don’t. Because apparently, this is the solulu.

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