Goblin mode: What does the Oxford Dictionary word of the year mean?

“Goblin mode” has been chosen as the Oxford Dictionary’s 2022 word of the year.

For the first time this year, the public was invited to vote from a list of three choices narrowed down by the dictionary, and Goblin mode won by a landslide securing 93 per cent of the vote to beat Metaverse and #IStandWith.

Press PLAY below to hear what Goblin mode means

The term refers to “unapologetically self-indulgent” behaviour.

President of Oxford Languages, Casper Grathwohl, says the expression comes from “social media and the digital sphere more than anything”.

“Goblin mode is that idea of behaviour that’s unapologetically self-indulgent, maybe a little slovenly or lazy, and it’s in response to this pressure that people feel to show these idealised, curated images of themselves,” he told Ross and Russel.