The Cambridge Dictionary
Word of the Year 2024 is…
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
Manifest was looked up almost 130,000 times on the Cambridge Dictionary website, making it one of the most viewed words of 2024.
Why manifest?
Wendalyn Nichols, Publishing Manager
Cambridge Dictionary
Take a deeper look at manifest as a word
Find out more
Hear from Professor Sander van der Linden, Social Psychologist, University of Cambridge
Check out these past winners of the Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year.
Previous Word of the Year winners
manifest
Read our Word of the Year blog post to find out more about how we choose the Word of the Year.
Learn about words on our blog
Why psychologists warn against manifesting
Read the blog
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.
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 make it become a reality.
The use of this sense of manifest has gained in popularity with the increasing number of “manifesting influencers” promoting this scientifically unproven practice on social media—so much so that it was added to the Cambridge Dictionary in May of 2023.
What does it say about 2024?
From late July to early September 2024, the Olympics and Paralympics brought worldwide attention to manifesting, with gold medal winners like Simone Biles, Ezra Frech, and Mallory Weggemann attributing their achievement to the practice.
Earlier in the year, fans of Sabrina Carpenter called her a “manifesting queen” for her Eras Tour appearance with Taylor Swift, and Dua Lipa said she manifested her concert for a crowd of more than 100,000 at the Glastonbury Festival.
Lookups of manifest increased around the date of 8/8/2024, which was considered a particularly powerful day for manifesting, keeping the many podcasts, blogs, and social media feeds buzzing with advice about how to “manifest your best life”, especially in financial terms.
“ When we choose a Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year, we have three considerations: user data, zeitgeist, and language. What word was looked up the most, or spiked? Which one really captures what was happening in that year? And what is interesting about this word from a language point of view?
Manifest won this year because it increased notably in lookups, its use widened greatly across all types of media, and it shows how the meanings of a word can change over time.”
When did manifest in this sense become widely popular?
The practice of manifesting increased in popularity during the pandemic, which is when internet searches for the word rose dramatically. People took to social media to share tips on manifesting anything from a dream house to a text back from their crush.
Our shortlist for Word of the Year
These strong contenders for Word of the Year didn’t make the cut. Here’s why.
brat : Brat was everywhere in the summer of 2024 thanks to Charli XCX’s album of the same name (and its vibrant green cover), and it spiked in lookups on the Cambridge Dictionary. A brat is a child who misbehaves – who doesn’t conform to social expectations for behaviour. However, although using this term as an adjective (Charlie XCX called Kamala Harris brat, not a brat) is linguistically interesting, flipping a negative term to use it in a defiantly positive way is not an uncommon way we use language, and it doesn’t yet amount to a new meaning that would be entered in the dictionary.
ecotarian : Another word that spiked in 2024 lookups, ecotarian reflects the growing movement towards environmentally conscious living. But we could not connect the term to anything that felt uniquely characteristic of 2024.
resilience : At 152,000 overall lookups, resilience scored even higher than manifest did. It’s a powerful word, reflecting the strength and adaptability needed in challenging times. However, there is not much to stay about it linguistically.
The Cambridge Dictionary lexicographers use a huge database of language called a corpus to investigate not just the different meanings of a word, but how that word is used in written and spoken English. Manifest has very interesting collocational behaviour, which means it co-occurs frequently with some words – like success and dreams, but also symptoms – and not with others.
Other words we’re watching
To be a candidate for the Word of the Year, a term has to actually be in the Cambridge Dictionary. Some words are added very quickly: for example, it took just 34 days to add Covid-19 to the dictionary. But often, we find new words or senses that we want to keep an eye on and make sure they “stick” – that they’re not going to disappear as quickly as they appeared (like Swiftonomics) and that they’re not just used in very specific contexts (like WaterTok). In May 2023, we noticed that the newer sense of manifest had stood the test of time and was now being used extensively in many contexts, so we added it to the dictionary.
Here are some words we’ve begun tracking in 2024:
How the meaning of manifest has changed since 1380
The word manifest has a story to tell. A borrowing from Latin and French, it was first used in English as an adjective meaning ‘easily noticed or obvious’, then a verb that meant ‘to show something clearly’. How did this word come to be applied to the activity of imagining positive outcomes?
Click to find out.
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manifest appears in Chaucer
(adjective) easily noticed or obvious “It is cleer and manyfest that it is propre to the devyne thought.”
(verb) to show something clearly, through signs or actions “Thynken ye to manyfesten or publisschen your renoun and doon yowr name for to be born forth?”
(G. Chaucer, ca. 1380, from Boece, Book II, prose 7. Modern translation: Do you presume to manifest or publicise your renown and make your name famous?)
(G. Chaucer, ca. 1380, from Boece, Book V, prose 6. Modern translation: It is clear and manifest that it is proper to the divine thought [God’s law].)
Shakespeare takes manifest to the stage
(adjective) shown clearly, through signs or actions “For it appears, by manifest proceeding, that indirectly, and directly too, thou hast contriv’d against the very life of the defendant…”
(W. Shakespeare, from The Merchant of Venice. Modern translation: For it appears, by these manifest proceedings, that indirectly, and directly too, you have worked against the very life of the defendant.)
manifest goes to sea
(noun) an official list of people and goods carried on a ship “I, Wm Hawks, do solemnly swear to the best of my knowledge and belief that the above Report & Manifest is … a just and true Account of all the Goods, Wares, & Merchandise laden and taken on Board…”
(W. Hawks, 1793, from Report and Manifest of the cargo of the Sloop Philadelphia Packet)
Click to see more
quishing : the scam of phishing via QR code. We haven’t seen this being looked up on the Cambridge Dictionary, but other sources we monitor showed a spike in late February 2024 followed by another, more steady rise since August.
resenteeism : to continue doing your job but resent it. This blend of resent and absenteeism is appearing in business journalism. We will monitor it to see whether it expands into general use, the way quiet quitting did.
gymfluencer : a social media influencer whose content is focused on fitness or bodybuilding. This is another blend, of gym and influencer. Blending is a common way that new terms are coined, but many are short-lived.
cocktail party problem (also cocktail party effect) : the difficulty of focusing on one voice when there are multiple speakers in the room. This was coined in the 1950s, but was mainly used in academic texts related to audiology. It is now being used with reference to AI. This is a good example of words coming from specialized subject areas beginning to spread into new contexts.
vampire : a vampire device or vampire appliance is one which uses energy even when not in use. This is a new, adjective sense of an existing word. Lexicographers noticed this sense when compiling another new sense of vampire added to the Cambridge Dictionary in October.
Why would a fairly formal 600-year-old word that means ‘to show something clearly’ suddenly become so popular?
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manifest takes on a new dimension
(verb, intransitive) If a ghost or spirit manifests itself, it appears. “Other séances were held in her bed-chamber, at which good and holy spirits manifested themselves.”
(N. Hawthorne, 1858, journal entry)
people start to manifest for themselves
(verb, transitive) to make something happen by internalizing it, intentionally or unintentionally “… we take in these wrong thoughts unconsciously and manifest them on our bodies in sickness.”
(W. Hubbard,1919, editorial in The St. Joseph Observer)
manifest goes viral
(verb, transitive) 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
"#manifest #manifestation #manifestabundance #mainfestyourdreams #manifestyourlife"
“I, Wm Hawks, do solemnly swear to the best of my knowledge and belief that the above Report & Manifest is … a just and true Account of all the Goods, Wares, & Merchandise laden and taken on Board…”
(Common social media hashtags)
manifest goes to the Olympics
(verb, transitive) 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
(Olympic marathon swimmer Ivan Puskovitch, quoted in “WVU swimmer qualifies for Olympic 10K Open Water Marathon,“ wdtv.com, 16 February 2024. Accessed 24 September 2024.)
"Manifesting Abundance Blog shows you how to manifest abundance in your life using the law of attraction, visualization, positive affirmations and mind movies."
(@manifestingblog, X.com, accessed 22 September 2024)
Click to find out.
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“My whole life I’ve been writing it down, trying to physically manifest it, verbally manifest, visually manifest it, and I never would’ve written that goal down if I didn’t think it was something I could achieve.”
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What did we learn about manifest ?
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Having seen the different ways in which people have used the word manifest over the years, our lexicographers used the corpus to investigate the more recent changes. They found that until recently the verb manifest was mainly used reflexively – as in something manifests itself in something or manifests itself as something.
One of the main uses is in medical contexts, where the most common subject is symptoms. In this sense, if a symptom manifests itself, it becomes clear or apparent, for example:
Allergy symptoms usually manifest themselves in a skin rash or irritation to the eyes.
Other common collocations are disease and disorder:
The disorder usually manifests itself as an inability to fall asleep or stay asleep.
Another common subject of manifest is an attitude or feeling, often a negative one, as in this example from business:
Lack of confidence in the company manifested itself in a fall in the share price.
However, in recent years, we have seen more evidence in the corpus of manifest being used in more positive contexts, with words like dream, goal, and success.
In these instances, it is not feelings or symptoms being manifested, but people that are doing the manifesting of things they want:
I have helped many people over the years to manifest their desires.
Use these simple steps to manifest your dreams and achieve your goals.
Words used with manifest
The grammar of manifest
Manifest is mostly a formal word, and as a verb it is used in four different ways. It’s most commonly transitive or reflexive, but can also be intransitive or used passively.
Need a quick reminder?
A verb that is transitive has an object.
Transitive uses
A person manifests symptoms of a disease or disorder, problems, or changes (= they show them):
Some patients may manifest changes in pulse and blood pressure with this medication.
Consult a school psychologist if a child manifests symptoms such as sleeplessness or irrational fear.
A person manifests feelings, a quality, or a desire (= they express them or make them obvious):
These women manifested power in a town that had been exclusively controlled by men.
He manifested no desire to gain the reputation of an ambitious young politician.
A thing manifests a quality (= it is expressive of that quality):
The sculptor’s first major commission manifests a classical spirit.
This is where God manifests his glory and communicates his grace.
symptom
depression
frustration
stress
anxiety
disorder
crisis
abundance
dream
job
goal
love
success
symptom: Symptoms usually manifest within 6 hours of transfusion.
symptom
Reflexive uses
An invisible or hidden phenomenon manifests itself as something that can be seen (= it appears in that form):
Change has to be spiritual, and spiritual change sometimes manifests itself as social justice.
A supernatural being manifests itself (= it appears):
The only time he claimed to have seen a ghost manifest itself in front of him was while investigating the old library.
Symptoms of a disease or disorder manifest themselves (= they appear):
Symptoms of the disease can resemble the flu and often don’t manifest themselves until weeks after exposure.
The object of a reflexive verb is itself.
Passive uses
Problems, or symptoms of a disease or disorder, are manifested:
Gastrointestinal symptoms were commonly manifested after swimming.
Many problems manifested in high school can be traced back to middle and elementary school.
A disease or disorder is manifested by (or as) particular symptoms:
In men the disease is often manifested by skin lesions.
The angina symptoms manifested as chest pain and discomfort are not the disease itself.
A quality or feeling is manifested by (or in) a particular behaviour:
Her ambition to further the cause of healthy eating was best manifested in the shows she presented in the 2010s.
During the Blitz, the resilience of the British was manifested by their refusal to let their lives be brought to a stop.
In a passive construction, the action is not being done by the verb’s subject.
Intransitive uses
A disease, problems, or symptoms manifest (= appear):
Significant management problems have manifested under his leadership.
This is a stage of life when severe illnesses first manifest.
A problem, disease, or disorder manifests as particular symptoms:
When the yin is out of balance it may manifest as symptoms of dryness, hot flashes, and headaches.
Supernatural beings manifest (= appear):
I have seen many spirits manifesting in the physical dimension, due to my clairvoyant ability.
A verb that is intransitive does not have an object.
Click on a word to see an example of how it is used with manifest.
A person manifests something that they want (= they use their imagination to try to make it happen):
I want readers to realize they can manifest change in their living space, whether they are buying a new home or just updating a room.
The key to manifesting love and money is to manifest yourself first.
success
love
goal
job
dream
abundance
crisis
disorder
anxiety
stress
disease
depression
frustration
disease
success: I’m trying to manifest success
in all areas of my life.
love: Affirmations can manifest love for you if you use them with the right emotional attitude.
goal: A vision board can be a powerful tool for manifesting your goals.
job: Don’t give up – keep manifesting your dream job and soon it will be yours.
crisis: The crisis has manifested itself with ever-increasing house prices.
disorder: The disorder manifests itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and a lack of conscience.
anxiety: This type of anxiety often manifests itself as an unsettling feeling of not being good enough.
stress: Stress can manifest itself in short-term memory loss and inability to sleep.
disease: The way the disease manifests itself varies from person to person.
frustration: Their frustration manifested itself in a massive display of defiance.
depression: In teenagers, it is common for depression to manifest itself as anger.
dream: Use these techniques to transform your mindset and manifest your dreams.
abundance: How do you manifest abundance in business?
A disease, disorder, or problem manifests itself as (or in) particular symptoms or outcomes:
A poor connection on the call will manifest itself as a buzzing sound.
Psoriasis is a disease that typically manifests itself as patches of dry, flaky skin.
I have helped many people over the years to manifest their desires.
A person manifests symptoms of a disease or disorder, problems, or changes (= they show them):
Some patients may manifest changes in pulse and blood pressure with this medication.
Consult a school psychologist if a child manifests symptoms such as sleeplessness or irrational fear.
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A person manifests feelings, a quality, or a desire (= they express them or make them obvious):
These women manifested power in a town that had been exclusively controlled by men.
He manifested no desire to gain the reputation of an ambitious young politician.
A person manifests something that they want (= they use their imagination to try to make it happen):
I want readers to realize they can manifest change in their living space, whether they are buying a new home or just updating a room.
The key to manifesting love and money is to manifest yourself first.