’67’ is Dictionary.com’s word of the year. What is it? : NPR

Dictionary.com has crowned “67” as the 2025 word of the year, while admitting that it has no real definition.

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Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images

Dictionary.com has crowned a set of numbers as the 2025 word of the year.

He says he reserves that distinction for a word that reflects “the social trends and global events that have defined this year” and “reveals the stories we tell about ourselves and how we have changed over the course of the year.” The word of the year is both a viral vernacular and a linguistic time capsule (last year, for example, was “wise”).

This year, that honor goes to “67” – pronounced “six seven” – a slang term that has been delighting children, infuriating teachers and baffling adults for months.

It has its roots in the song “Doot Doot (6 7),” which Philadelphia-based rapper Skrilla released last December.

“The way this change happened, I know it’s dying…6-7, I just beeped on the highway,” Skrilla says, using a verb that in hip-hop can describe everything from a car crash to a smooth ride to general swag.

But it is the phrase “67” which took off. It was popularized online largely thanks to viral TikToks of basketball highlights, including LaMelo Ball, the 6-foot-7 point guard for the Charlotte Hornets.

Then other famous basketball players, including LeBron James and Paige Bueckers, began using the term in interviews. It spread to other sports and, soon after, to schools across the country. Generation Alpha typically pronounces it in a slow, drawling voice accompanied by a hand movement: raising one upward-facing palm at a time for each digit, as if weighing two objects.

“Now it’s something you just try to use to get someone to reference the number 67. like… “How tall are you?” »… “what time is it?” “…’what is that?'” Philip Lindsay, a college professor and comedian, who first posted about the trend in February, said in an August Instagram video. “There is literally no circumstance where a kid couldn’t say 67.”

Dictionary.com says searches for 67 increased over the summer, increasing “more than six times” since June with no signs of stopping. The term has inspired musical mashups, a recent South Park plot and lots of (a little cringe) Halloween costumes.

“67 shows how quickly a new word can explode across the world as a rising generation enters the global conversation,” reads its announcement.

Lindsay approves of the choice, telling NPR via email that 67 is “definitely THE word of 2025.” He says that while kids tend to lose interest in memes over time, especially as they move from one generation to the next, this one has held up for most of the year — although his new distinction could potentially change that.

“I imagine after this designation and the increasing number of people using it, it will start to grate with the younger generation,” he wrote. “However, I think because these are numbers that we see everywhere, this is going to stick around for a while in classrooms and in the minds of Generation Alpha.”

But what does this actually mean?

It depends who you ask

Dictionary.com says: “Perhaps the most defining characteristic of 67 is that it is impossible to define. »

“It’s meaningless, omnipresent and absurd,” he adds. “It’s the logical outcome of being perpetually online, endlessly scrolling, and consuming content delivered to users by algorithms trained by other algorithms.”

In other words, the determining world of the year has no real meaning or definition.

Even Skrilla, the rapper who coined the term, said XXL magazine this week that he left it intentionally vague, even though it initially had a negative connotation.

“67 went from a negative thing to a positive thing,” he said. “[It’s] millions of other things for other people. Everyone has their own meaning, because I never gave it a real meaning. »

Ball, the 6-foot-7 basketball player, also struggled to define it when asked in a September TikTok.

“It’s nothing, really,” the 24-year-old said. “Just six seven.”

Yet, as Dictionary.com says, the meaning of the term lies in the connection it has. This is essentially a big inside joke, at least for participants of a certain age.

“67 doesn’t make sense in content, but it doesn’t make sense in sentiment,” parenting expert Becky Kennedy said in an Instagram video earlier this month. “Think about when you were a child. What’s more powerful than feeling like you belong?”

Clearly, that sentiment is powerful enough to propel 67 to word of the year – beating out a shortlist of contenders including broligarchy, clanker, tradwife and fare.

Lindsay says he has received “countless” messages from parents who have been in contact with their children “over a period of 6 to 7 years and have been able to have meaningful conversations as a result.” He hopes others will adopt it in the same way.

“Every meme or trending word is a point of connection between adults and teenagers in their lives,” he adds. “My advice is always to know what’s going on and use it to bridge the gaps with the children in your life.”