Collins Dictionary’s ‘lighthearted’ Word of the Year 2026 has a sinister history

While it’s grown in popularity over the last year, ‘mogging’ actually dates back to the 2010s (Picture: Getty Images)

Photobomb, brat, lockdown. What do all these words have in common?

Well, they’ve all been the previous winners of the Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year, of course.

For the past 13 years, experts at Collins have bestowed the title upon the word they believe best reflects ‘our ever-evolving language and the preoccupations of those who use it’.

And this year, the winner is ‘mogging’, which has seen a 210% increase in usage in 2026.

Collins say that mogging means to ‘outshine or outperform someone or something… used by both Gen Z and Gen Alpha ...