“The word ‘demure’ experienced a meteoric rise in usage in 2024. Between January and the end of August, this term saw a nearly 1200% increase in usage in digital web media alone,” the announcement read. “This sharp rise is mainly attributed to TikToker Jools Lebron’s popularization of the phrase.”

Thanks to Jools Lebron, demure has become Dictionary.com's word of the year, after the creator's viral video blew up on social media.

In 2024, Dictionary.com crowned “demure” as its word of the year, but its cultural significance transcended its definition, thanks to TikToker Jools Lebron. Her August clip, where she playfully used the word,

In a very mindful, very thoughtful announcement Monday, Dictionary.com declared “demure,” a word made popular by TikTok but dating back roughly 700 years, as the word of the year for 2024. Dictionary.