Dictionary.com just dropped its Word of the Year — and it’s already maxing out people’s patience. In line with the growing social media trend toward seemingly never-ending self-optimization, the site has declared “maxxing” — meaning “maximizing” or “increasing” — as the top word of 2026.

The viral social media trend "maxxing" has earned its stripes as Dictionary.com's 2026 Word of the Year.

A Gen Z-related term has, once again, been named the Word of the Year by Dictionary.com.

Americans' apparent obsession with "maxxing" has made it Dictionary.com's 2026 Word of the Year, the BBC reports. The website says the word reflects a culture fixated on squeezing the most out of everything. The word—short for "maximizing"—can stand ...