After a surge of celebrity-inspired popularity on social media, the word 'manifest' has been elected Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year. However, this scientifically unproven practice can be controversial..
. Manifest. Verb.
“To use 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.” Essentially willing something into existence through the power of positive thinking. The word has been named the Word of the Year 2024 by Cambridge Dictionary, after a surge of celebrity-inspired popularity on social media.
It was looked up almost 130,000 times on the this year, with mentions gaining traction on TikTok and other social media. The word as an adjective meaning “easily noticed or obvious” and as a verb meaning “to show something clearly through signs or actions” dates back in English to at least the 1300s; but the dictionary’s decision to elect it as their Word of the Year rests on its newest meaning as a verb. “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,” stated Cambridge Dictionary.
“When famous performers, star athletes, and influential entrepreneurs claim they have achieved something because they manifested it, they are using this verb in a more recent sense: to use specific practices to focus your mind on something you want, to try to mak.