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Dadbod, binge-watch, manspreading make dictionary's top 2015 words

Did you do your share of binge-watching in 2015? You aren't alone. Use of the word "binge-watch" spiked dramatically in 2015, making it Collins English Dictionary's word of the year.

Anthony Domanico
CNET freelancer Anthony Domanico is passionate about all kinds of gadgets and apps. When not making words for the Internet, he can be found watching Star Wars or "Doctor Who" for like the zillionth time. His other car is a Tardis.
Anthony Domanico
3 min read
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Hey, dads, flab is fab as "dadbod" becomes an official word in the Collins English Dictionary online.

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Time to celebrate your untoned "dadbod," fellas. The word that spread across the Internet this year as fast as your waistline spilled over your belt is officially a word in the Collins English Dictionary.

On Thursday, Collins released its annual top 10 list announcing the official words of 2015, giving legitimacy to terms like "ghosting," "clean eating" and "shaming" by placing them in Collins' official online dictionary.

"Dadbod" became popular this year after an article in The Odyssey called "Why Girls Love The Dad Bod" went viral. As a sleep-deprived dad with little time to work out anymore, I fully support the inclusion of this word in the Collins English Dictionary. The dadbod struggle is real, very real.

Dadbod, however, was not named word of the year. That honor went to "binge-watch," which Collins claims has increased in use by over 200 percent in 2015, likely with the rise of programming like "Daredevil," season 3 of "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black" that have people surrendering entire weekends to watch episode after episode.

The Collins English Dictionary is a print and online dictionary of the English language originally published by HarperCollins in 1979. The most recent edition, the 12th, was published in October 2014.

Its full list of official words of 2015, complete with definitions for each, can be found below in alphabetical order.

  • Binge-watch: To watch a large number of television programs (especially all the shows from one series) in succession.
  • Clean eating: The practice of following a diet that contains only natural foods, and is low in sugar, salt and fat.
  • Contactless: Referring to payment systems that use RFID (radio frequency identification) technology and do not require the customer's signature or PIN (personal identification number).
  • Corbynomics: The economic policies advocated by Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the UK Labour Party from 2015.
  • Dadbod: An untoned and slightly plump male physique, especially one considered attractive.
  • Ghosting: The act or an instance of ending a romantic relationship by not responding to attempts to communicate by the other party.
  • Manspreading: The practice by a male passenger on public transport of sitting with his legs wide apart, so denying space to passengers beside him.
  • Shaming: The act or practice of attempting to embarrass a person or group by drawing attention to their perceived offense, especially on social media.
  • Swipe: To move a finger across a touchscreen on an electronic device as a means of inputting a command.
  • Transgender: Of or relating to a person whose gender identity does not fully correspond to the sex assigned to them at birth.

You can read more about these words and how they've grown in popularity in 2015 in the accompanying blog post on the Collins website. If any of these words remain popular over the next few years, they'll be included in the next print edition of the Collins English Dictionary, which is scheduled for a 2018 release.

Collins isn't the only dictionary to select words of the year, of course, In 2014, Dictionary.com "="" its="" word="" of="" the="" year"="" shortcode="link" asset-type="article" uuid="c6b93d3d-f089-41c1-83f9-35cd0117720f" slug="ebola-hackers-drive-dictionary-com-word-of-the-year-exposure" link-text="declared " section="news" title="Ebola, hackers drive Dictionary.com word of the year: 'Exposure'" edition="us" data-key="link_bulk_key" api="{"id":"c6b93d3d-f089-41c1-83f9-35cd0117720f","slug":"ebola-hackers-drive-dictionary-com-word-of-the-year-exposure","contentType":null,"edition":"us","topic":{"slug":"internet"},"metaData":{"typeTitle":null,"hubTopicPathString":"Internet","reviewType":null},"section":"news"}"> due to the Ebola outbreak and numerous hacker attacks, and Oxford Dictionaries added words like amazeballs, YOLO and adorbs to its online dictionary.

Now, go ahead and fully embrace your dadbod while binge-watching some shows on Netflix, and definitely go ahead and manspread on public transportation while swiping left or right (or up) on Tinder.