Spicy Cough, Bachelor’s Handbag and Yassify: The Contenders For The Macquarie Word Of The Year Are Here

What’s your word of the year?

With the year coming to a close, Macquarie dictionary has announced their shortlist for the 2022 Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year.

The shortlist has put together 19 terms we’ve come to love over the past year like “bachelor’s handbag” (AKA a supermarket roast chook) and “goblin mode” (embracing messiness and being the true slob you are).

Just like the past few years, the list is dominated by our new COVID vocab, with terms like “spicy cough” and “e-change” making the shortlist this year.

The 2021 winner was “strollout”, referring to the federal government’s vaccine rollout, and the 2020 crown went to “doomscrolling”.

There’s a fair range of finalists this year, including Gen Z online terms like “yassify”, “nepo baby” and “quiet quitting”.

But also included in the list are some pretty political terms that highlight this year’s serious issues, like “teal”, “brigading” and “hidden homeless”.

If you’ve got a favourite, you can vote for the 2022 Macquarie Dictionary People’s Choice Word Of The Year online, while the official word of the year will be decided by a committee.

Check out the full list and the definitions below!