Dictionaries are descriptive records of how a language is actually being used, not lists of officially approved words — lexicographers track real-world usage through citation evidence, and a word earns an entry once it shows sufficiently widespread, sustained, and meaningful use, not by committee vote or invention.
Reading time
— 4 min
Updated
— Aug 16, 2026
Fact-reviewed
— Aug 16, 2026
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
1Dictionary editors don't invent or officially approve new words — they track how words are already being used in real writing and speech, then add the ones that show widespread, sustained, meaningful use.
2A word can exist and circulate for years before it 'enters the dictionary' — a dictionary entry documents established use, it doesn't mark the moment a word is born.
3Not every English-speaking dictionary tradition works the same way as every language's — some languages, like French and Spanish, have an official language academy with a more centralized, prescriptive role than English's decentralized, usage-tracking dictionaries.
The concept
Lexicographers watch how people actually use language — in books, news, social media, and everyday conversation — and when a new word or a new meaning of an existing word is used widely enough, by enough different people, for long enough, it earns a dictionary entry. No one invents the word for the dictionary; the dictionary is documenting a word that's already out there being used.
With frequency, breadth, longevity, and meaningful use as the actual criteria, it becomes much easier to see why some new words take years to earn an entry while others, in genuinely unusual circumstances, arrive within weeks.
Quick check
What is the main thing lexicographers evaluate before adding a new word to a dictionary?
Worked examples
Example 1: "Selfie" — the normal, multi-year path to an entry (baseline case)
"Selfie" was used informally for a while before it saw a rapid rise in widespread, sustained use, driven by smartphone cameras and social media. Oxford Dictionaries named it their Word of the Year in 2013, based on data showing a sharp, sustained increase in usage frequency across a broad range of sources — and it was subsequently added as a full entry in major dictionaries, including Merriam-Webster. This is the typical pattern: informal circulation, then a period of rapid, broad, sustained growth, then formal entry once the evidence clearly supports it.
Example 2: "COVID-19" — the rare fast-track case (variation / exception)
In early 2020, Merriam-Webster added "COVID-19" to its dictionary within a matter of weeks of the term coming into use — an unusually fast turnaround compared to the typical multi-year evaluation period. The word met the same underlying criteria (frequency, breadth, meaningful use) that any other candidate word would need to meet, but it met them at extraordinary speed because of how suddenly and universally the term became necessary in everyday communication worldwide. This shows the process isn't slow by rule — it's slow by default because most words simply don't reach the necessary evidence threshold quickly.
Example 3: Internet slang under evaluation today (real-world / applied case)
Words that spread quickly through social media and youth culture — such as "rizz," named Oxford's Word of the Year in 2023 — go through the same citation-based evaluation as any other candidate. Lexicographers watch whether a viral term's use persists and broadens beyond its original online community, rather than fading within a season, before treating it as dictionary-worthy. Many internet-coined words never clear that bar and stay informal slang indefinitely; others, like "selfie" before them, do sustain and broaden, and eventually earn a formal entry through the same longevity-and-breadth evaluation used for every other word.
Quick check
Why did 'COVID-19' get added to the dictionary so much faster than most new words typically do?
Common mistakes
Common Mistakes
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Assuming a dictionary 'approving' a word means someone invented it or made it official.
→ Remember that dictionaries document existing usage — they don't invent words or grant them legal or official status.
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Assuming any slang term will eventually be added if enough people use it briefly.
→ Sustained, longer-term usage across many sources matters more than a short-lived viral spike — many trend words fade before they clear the bar.
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Assuming every language's dictionary process works the same way English's does.
→ English dictionaries like Merriam-Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary are descriptive and track usage; languages with an official language academy, like French (Académie française) or Spanish (Real Academia Española), can have a more centralized, prescriptive process for what counts as standard.
Common misconception
“New dictionary words are added by an official committee that 'invents' or approves them.”
Major English dictionaries are descriptive: lexicographers track how words are already being used in real writing and speech, gather dated citation evidence, and add words once that evidence shows sufficiently widespread, sustained, and meaningful use — there's no committee inventing words or granting them official status. There is no single global authority approving new English words at all. This isn't true of every language, though — French has the Académie française and Spanish has the Real Academia Española, both official bodies with a more centralized, prescriptive role in standardizing their languages, which is a genuinely different model from English's decentralized, usage-driven dictionary tradition.
Quick check
Does every major world language use the same process as English for deciding which new words are official?
What to do next
What to do next
Next time a new slang word feels dictionary-worthy to you, check whether Merriam-Webster or Oxford has actually added it yet, and notice how long that took.
Look up a recently added dictionary word and read about its usage history if the dictionary publishes one.
Notice the difference between a word being 'used' and a word being 'in the dictionary' — they aren't the same milestone.
Read the entry on how languages evolve over time to see the bigger picture new words fit into.
FAQ
FAQ
Related terms
Related terms
Lexicographer
A person who compiles, writes, and edits dictionaries, including researching how words are actually used in order to write accurate definitions and decide which new words merit an entry.
Citation (lexicography)
A recorded, dated example of a word being used in real writing or speech, collected by dictionary editors as evidence of how — and how widely — a word is actually used.
Descriptive dictionary
A dictionary that documents how a language is actually used by its speakers, as opposed to a prescriptive dictionary that dictates how it should be used. Most major English dictionaries, including Merriam-Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary, are descriptive in this sense.
Language academy
An official institution, such as the Real Academia Española (Spanish) or the Académie française (French), given a formal role in regulating or standardizing a language — a more centralized, prescriptive model than English's decentralized, usage-tracking dictionary tradition.
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