Dictionary.com announces Word of the Year – let’s get vocab-maxxing!
Clavicular has made ‘looksmaxxing’ a thing (Getty Images)
Dictionary.com has named “maxxing” its word of the year for 2026, pointing to a sharp rise in usage and noting that one prominent offshoot, “looksmaxxing”, grew out of online incel and manosphere communities.
A shortened form of “maximising”, it is now used as a broad slang term for going all-in on something, or trying to improve some part of life as far as it can be pushed. Dictionary.com said its research estimated that, in August 2026, the term showed up in digital media at almost 19 times the average monthly rate recorded in 2025.
Steve Johnson, director of lexicography for the Dictionary Media Group, said: “Maxxing stood out because it captures a contradiction in how we approach modern life: We’re constantly looking for ways to improve ourselves and get more out of everything, even as we recognise how exhausting or absurd that pursuit can become.”
What does ‘maxxing’ mean online?
In practice, “maxxing” can be bolted onto almost anything. Dictionary.com’s examples range from “sleepmaxxing” and “proteinmaxxing” to “cozymaxx” for a supposedly optimised quiet night in.
The suffix also shows up in workplace and tech culture, with “tokenmaxxing” used to describe using artificial intelligence tools as much as possible, and “fibermaxxing” for trying to increase fibre intake.
The term’s modern internet usage also has roots in gaming. In role-playing games, “Min-maxing” has for years referred to maximising a character’s strengths and minimising weaknesses, and the more recent “maxxing” phrasing has since moved beyond that setting.
Why ‘looksmaxxing’ is controversial
Dictionary.com notes that “looksmaxxing” emerged from online incel communities and manosphere-linked forums, in which men talked about how to make themselves more attractive.
Some approaches focus on grooming, exercise and skincare, while others have taken a more extreme turn. Braden Peters, the influencer known as Clavicular, has shared online records of looksmaxxing attempts including “bone smashing”, which is described as striking the face with a hammer under the mistaken idea it will create a more defined facial structure.
Dictionary.com’s archived internet data traces examples of “looksmaxxing” to 2015, with terms such as “moneymaxxing” and “statusmaxxing” appearing by 2021.
“Maxxing” beat four other contenders for Dictionary.com’s word of the year: “affordability”, “data centre”, “odyssey”, and “unc”. In 2025, “rage bait” was named Oxford Word of the Year.
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