Oxford University Press Children’s Word of the Year: ‘Kindness’
"Kindness" has been crowned as the 2024 Children's Word of the Year
Last updated 22nd Jan 2025
"Artificial intelligence" has lost out to "Kindness" as the 2024 Children's Word of the Year.
More than 3,000 children across the UK aged six to 14 were asked for their word of the year, with "kindness", "artificial intelligence" and "conflict" among the most common suggestions, according to publisher Oxford University Press (OUP).
These three words, along with three shortlisted slang words chosen from a a survey of 1,200 children, were then put to a vote by a further 2,000 children.
More than one in four surveyed for a slang word chose slay, which has appeared on the colloquial shortlist for the past two years.
The terms sigma and skibidi were voted as second and third choices respectively (16% and 15%), demonstrating the role of social media in influencing children's vocabulary.
According to the research, 61% of children chose "kindness" as the Children's Word of the Year, with some of them associating the word with mental health.
We’ve been speaking to pupils at Dashwood Academy in Banbury
Nathan, aged 10
Nathan said: “Kindness means that you show empathy for someone. It means helping someone if they’ve fallen and can go even more deeper and personal than that.
“Such as, when my friend, Tomasz’s cat sadly got hit by a car. So, I was there to comfort him.”
Tomasz, aged 11
Tomasz said: “Nathan really helped and was really nice to me.
He added: “I think the most kind person is either Nathan or my parents, because Nathan has been there a lot of the time.
“I would say we are best friends.”
Ajsli, aged 10
Ajsli said: “My parents are the kindest people, they go beyond - for my birthday they would do a whole party, invite all my friends and make it special. Everyday they just make my life special.”
Charlotte, aged 10
Charlotte said: “I try to give people compliments everyday and things like that.”
She added: "I hope it makes them feel good and makes their confidence go a bit better.”
Assistant Principal, Carly Bunn
Assistant Principal, Carly Bunn, said: “If they leave here being kind then we’ve done a good job.
“I hope that they carry it onto whatever they do next and remember that no matter the stress of the world, if they remember to be kind, then things will be ok.”
‘Young people are very conscious of the big issues divide us’
A quarter who was surveyed chose AI and 53% of the children who selected the word associated it with positive adjectives including "excited" and "optimistic".
More than one in four surveyed for a slang word chose slay, which has appeared on the colloquial shortlist for the past two years.
The terms sigma and skibidi were voted as second and third choices respectively (16% and 15%), demonstrating the role of social media in influencing children's vocabulary.
Andrea Quincey, director of early years and primary publishing at OUP, said: "It is so encouraging that kindness has been voted - by a considerable majority - as the Oxford Children's Word of the Year for 2024.
"We know from previous years that young people are very conscious of the big issues that can divide us as a society and attuned to the important role which language can play in bringing people together.
"This choice suggests something more personal: an awareness of mental health issues and of the hidden challenges others may be facing.
"It tells us that empathy and tolerance and the language we use matter, and that kindness is not only a solution to so many problems but is something everyone and anyone can do to make a difference."
"Queen" was named word of the year for 2022, following the death of the King's mother Elizabeth II, while the word of the year for 2023 was "climate change".