They've also shared a new definition for "brat" as someone who is "characterised by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude" Collins Dictionary have chosen ‘brat’ as their word of the year, following the immense popularity of Charli XCX ‘s album of the same name. READ MORE: It’s Charli XCX’s world and we’re just living in it: a timeline of ‘Brat’ summer so far ‘ Brat ‘ took on a new meaning in 2024 after Charli XCX announced it would be the name of her sixth studio album. Speaking to NME ahead of its release , she defined it as: “kind of bitchy and gossipy and hardcore”.
As the summer progressed, ‘brat’ took on a life of its own and became a cultural phenomenon . This accelerated after Kamala Harris was announced as the Democratic candidate for the 2024 US presidential race, when Charli XCX made headlines by tweeting , “Kamala IS brat”. Harris’s social media team quickly capitalised and re-branded to the ‘Brat’ aesthetic, leading to CNN trying and failing to explain the ‘Brat’ phenomenon live on air .
Now, given “brat”‘s undeniable impact on pop culture in 2024, Collins has announced it as their word of the year. Though they had previously defined a “brat” as “someone, especially a child”, who “behaves badly or annoys you”, they’ve shared that it now describes a person “characterised by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude”. “‘Brat’ has become one of the most talked about words of 2.
