Dictionary.com names maxxing its 2026 Word of the Year

Dictionary.com has named “maxxing” its 2026 Word of the Year, choosing a term that turns everything from sleep to work into something to optimize.

Short for “maximizing,” the word can stand alone or attach to another word to suggest doing something as fully as possible. “This trendy term can be used on its own or added to the end of any word to convey you’re doing something to the fullest or optimizing it as much as possible,” Dictionary.com said.

The selection followed an analysis of online searches, social media trends and news stories. Digital media used “maxxing” nearly 19 times more often in August 2026 than the monthly average in 2025, the BBC reported, citing Dictionary.com.

“Maxxing really stood out this year because not only was it everywhere, in all types of articles, but it crossed a lot of different domains,” Steve Johnson, director of lexicography for Dictionary Media Group, told CBS News.

The term appears across fitness and wellness advice. People pursuing changes to their workouts might call it “gymmaxxing,” while “proteinmaxxing” and “fibermaxxing” describe efforts focused on those parts of a diet. “Sleepmaxxing” applies the same approach to rest. Other uses include “cozymaxxing” for leisure and “tokenmaxxing” for heavier use of artificial intelligence at work. According to CBS News, the federal government has also used “homelandmaxxing” in some of its messaging.

“Looksmaxxing,” focused on appearance, remains the most popular version by far, Johnson told CBS News. He said its use rose more than 1,000% since the start of the year in the media Dictionary.com analyzed. The BBC reported that influencer Clavicular has gained thousands of followers by chronicling extreme looksmaxxing centered on features including his jawline, eyes and physique.

Johnson said the newer, optimization-focused meaning has roots in “min-max,” a game-theory term used by academics in the 1940s for a strategy to minimize the maximum possible loss. The idea later appeared in games such as Dungeons & Dragons, where “min-maxing” meant building up a character’s strengths in a particular area. Words such as “looksmaxxing” supplied the extra “x,” he told CBS News. This year, he said, the term also stood on its own in questions such as “What are you maxxing?”

Its spread has brought playful resistance to the pressure to improve. Johnson cited “normalmaxxing” and “nothingmaxxing” as examples that use the language of optimization to push back against it. “Some embrace it. Some exaggerate it for laughs. Others subvert it entirely to describe stepping back from the relentless pursuit of more,” he told the BBC.

Dictionary.com’s other finalists were “affordability,” “data center,” “unc” — slang derived from “uncle” for an older person — and “odyssey.” Last year’s winner was “67,” a viral term whose meaning puzzled many people. Johnson told CBS News that “maxxing” was more accessible: “People do understand it because it’s tied to something that people instrinsically get.”