It’s the end of November, which means it’s almost December, which means it’s almost the end of the year. Tis the season for year-end reviews, listicles, and determinations of “X of the year.” We still have a few more weeks of waiting to see if Pantone redeems themselves from last year’s wholly underwhelming color of the year, Peach Fuzz. Luckily, Cambridge Dictionary has already announced their word of the year: Manifest. Yes, 2024 saw a huge uptick in references to passenger and/or cargo lists on airplanes and ships. JK, JK! No, Cambridge selected the word thanks to celebrities and social media influencers championing the practice of visualizing a dream into actually happening. It was talked about so much, in fact, that “manifest” was looked up 130,000 times on the dictionary’s website. Here’s more on how “manifest” was manifested into being the manifestly logical choice for 2024:
Manifest destiny: Cambridge Dictionary has put it out to the universe, naming “manifest” as its word of the year for 2024. Popularized by celebrities such as singer Dua Lipa, “manifest” refers to the practice of using “methods such as visualization and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen,” the British dictionary publisher said in an announcement Wednesday.
How it works for Dua Lipa: “If you set an intention and you think about it every single day of your life, and for me, Glastonbury for example, when I first started making music I dreamed about the day that I would get asked to headline Glastonbury,” she said in an interview in April. “And I’ve probably thought about it every single session that I’m in the studio, because when I write a song I think I go ‘oh what’s this going to sound like at Glastonbury?’” Lipa said. “That in a way is setting that idea, that intention in the back of my mind,” she added. “I think it’s powerful.”
How it works for Simone Biles: US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles has also mentioned her use of manifestation after her mother started encouraging her to write down her goals. “You have to write it down, you have to speak it into existence, you have to see it daily and then it usually happens,” she said in an interview in October.
An obvious choice: Taken from Latin and French, in English the word “manifest” originally meant “easily noticed or obvious” before it started to be used as a verb meaning “to show something clearly.” In the early 20th century it started to be used to mean “to make something happen by internalizing it, intentionally or unintentionally,” according to Cambridge Dictionary.
Manifest has gone mainstream: “In 2024, the word manifest jumped from being mainly used in the self-help community and on social media to being mentioned widely across mainstream media,” it wrote. “The use of this sense of manifest has gained in popularity with the increasing number of ‘manifesting influencers’ promoting this scientifically unproven practice on social media — so much so that it was added to the Cambridge Dictionary in May of 2023.” The dictionary said the word has been looked up nearly 130,000 times on its website, becoming one of its most viewed entries.
What makes a winning word: Wendalyn Nichols, Cambridge Dictionary’s publishing manager, said the word of the year pick is based on “user data, zeitgeist and language.” “Manifest won this year because it increased notably in lookups, its use widened greatly across all types of media, and it shows how the meanings of a word can change over time,” said Nichols.
LOL to the line, “this scientifically unproven practice.” Intention can be a powerful, winning force, I don’t deny that. And I absolutely believe that there are people who can harness their intentions into making things happen for themselves. It still has to be backed up, though, by the work itself. Dua Lipa and Simone Biles are excellent examples of that. Simone didn’t achieve GOAT-dom simply by writing down her goals; she practiced her damn ass off! I guess I see “manifesting influencers on social media” and worry the meat of the idea is being lost, that it’s being shilled as a magic bullet. Mini rant aside, “manifest” totally merits being word of the year. We’ve seen it break through to the mainstream with celebs talking it up, crediting the practice with having positive effects on their careers. So I agree that “manifest” was the manifest winner… while still respectfully retaining the right to say it’s less sexy than Oxford’s 2023 word of the year, Rizz.
Photos credit: B4859/Avalon/Avalon, Simone Biles and Dua Lipa via Instagram, Marijan Murat/dpa/DPA Picture Alliance/Avalon
I’ve been telling the universe that I want to win the lottery for years now, hasn’t happened yet….
Maybe Melania told the universe that she wanted to be the First Lady again.
I mean, I am sure it worked for some people, but isn’t it kind of confirmation bias? I am sure a lot of people manifested winning while competing against Simone. They are not gonna talk about it if it didn’t happen. Setting clear goals and working towards them are important for success, but still it doesn’t mean it will certainly happen. However, I am gonna add, thinking positively is very good for mental health even if you fail from time to time.
Manifesting seems like a rich American thing. Ok you “ manifested” but there are people all over the world that would love to manifest their way out of terrible situations- it doesn’t work unless you have resources in place to make it happen.