Dictionary.com names "demure" as the year's top word following Jools Lebron’s satirical TikTok video reminding women to be “very mindful, very demure” in the workplace.

(NEXSTAR) — In a very mindful, very thoughtful announcement Monday, Dictionary.com declared “demure,” a word made popular by TikTok but dating back roughly 700 years, as the word of the year for 2024.

Popularized on TikTok by Jools Lebron and other trans creators, "demure" is now Dictionary.com's annual word of the year for 2024.

This may have been the year of "Brat summer," but by August another buzzworthy phrase had usurped it in the pop culture lexicon.

Dictionary.com announced "demure" as their Word of the Year on November 25 in a press release, referencing the viral phrase "very mindful, very demure," popularized by TikToker Jools Lebron. The word surpassed other contenders for the title, including 'brainrot,' 'brat,' 'extreme weather,' 'midwest nice,' and 'weird.'

According to Dictionary.com, there was no significant trend in the usage of the word demure before the TikTok was posted. But by the week of Aug.18, there was almost 14 times more interest in the term. At its peak, ‘demure’ had 200 times more searches on Dictionary.com after the TikTok posted than it did before.

The world’s leading digital dictionary's lexicographers analyzed a massive amount of data to determine what word would best capture the cultural zeitgeist of 2024.

The term's popularity skyrocketed after content creator Jools Lebron used it in a now-viral TikTok video, in which she described being "very demure, very mindful"

The word "Demure" was picked as the 2024 "Word of the Year" by Dictionary.com after it gained notoriety this year on TikTok.