'Mogging', slang with roots in the manosphere, is named Collins word of the year, beating Burnham's 'Manchesterism'
'Mogging' saw a 210 per cent surge in usage in 2026 before Collins lexicographers crowned it word of the year, tracing its roots to bodybuilding and incel communities.
'Mogging' — meaning to outshine or outperform someone to the point of making them look inferior — has seen a 210 per cent surge in usage in 2026, prompting Collins lexicographers to crown it word of the year after tracking shifts in its meaning through their Collins Corpus database. The term beat a shortlist of ten words including 'carspreading', 'ghost job' and 'Manchesterism', Andy Burnham's devolution philosophy. Jacob Rees-Mogg called the win 'mognificent' and predicted the word would 'transmogrify our vocabulary'.
The word traces back to 'AMOG' — Alpha Male of the Group — emerging in bodybuilding and incel communities around 2016 before going mainstream.
Collins managing director Alex Beecroft said the pick shows 'how each generation leaves its mark on language', praising Gen Z for making the language their own.
Dictionary.com named 'maxxing' its own word of 2026 last week — both picks reflect the same wave of competitive online slang entering everyday speech.
