You may not know what Dictionary.com’s word of the year means, but your kids do, kind of

It’s the teenage lingo that’s sweeping the nation, and now it’s the word of the year.

Dictionary.com named 67 (six-seven) its 2025 Word of the Year this week, but if you aren’t sure what it means, you probably aren’t alone.

Teachers, parents or anyone who spends any time around kids or teenagers have probably heard the term since its being yelled from school bus windows and auditorium bleachers, banned from classrooms, dropped into song lyrics and repeated endlessly.

A Dictionary.com analysis found that “67” appeared in digital media six times more frequently in October 2025 alone compared to the average usage in 2024.

But why? What does it mean?

The short (and maybe disappointing) answer: not much. But that’s the point. Some interpret it as “so-so” or “maybe this, maybe that,” often paired with a shrug-like hand gesture where palms face up and move alternately.

Others just blurt it out—online, in class or whenever they spot the number 67 in the wild. The result is classic brainrot slang that is purposefully nonsensical, endlessly remixable and all about being in on the absurdity for the sake of absurdity.

“Few slang terms have captured the cultural mood of 2025 quite like 67,” said Steve Johnson, PhD, Director of Lexicography for the Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning.

“It’s part inside joke, part social signal and part performance. When people say it, they’re not just repeating a meme; they’re shouting a feeling. It’s one of the first Words of the Year that works as an interjection, a burst of energy that spreads and connects people long before anyone agrees on what it actually means.”

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Some trace the term to Skrilla’s 2024 drill song “Doot Doot (6 7).” Others link it to NBA player LaMelo Ball, whose 6-foot-7-inch stature became a symbol of swagger and dominance.

Even Michigan State basketball players made a point to say it in press conferences, laughing each time.

Viral clips on TikTok and Instagram paired “Doot Doot (6 7)” with basketball footage as early as October 2024, and the number soon evolved into a meme.

A viral video of “the 67 kid” shouting the phrase at a youth basketball game cemented its place in internet lore, while Overtime Elite player Taylen “TK” Kinney helped spread it to wider audiences.

From there, the sports world embraced it: NBA and WNBA teams referenced it. NFL players used the gesture in touchdown celebrations. Even Shaquille O’Neal joined in (though he admitted he still doesn’t quite understand what it means—join the club).

The term has since spawned spin-offs like six-sendy, a mashup of 67 and getting sendy, meaning to go all out.

Other terms on Dictionary.com‘s 2025 Word of the Year shortlist include:

• Agentic (adjective) : (of artificial intelligence) capable of acting independently to accomplish a goal or task; acting like a human agent.
• Aura farming (noun) : the deliberate cultivation of one’s charisma, style or vibe, often for online attention or social clout.
• Gen Z stare (noun) : a blank or unbothered facial expression associated with Gen Z, often interpreted as aloof or disengaged.
• Overtourism (noun) : a situation in which too many tourists travel to a popular destination, causing the place to suffer negative environmental, economic and sociocultural impacts.
• Tariff (noun) : the schedule or system of duties or customs imposed by a government on imports or exports.
• Tradwife (noun) : a married woman who chooses to be a homemaker as a primary occupation and adheres to or embodies traditional femininity and female gender roles, often associated with conservative or alt-right political values.