Antidote’s Word of the Year 2026
Our linguists picked three finalists from the words that shaped the year. Choose the one you think should win.
Our Shortlist
In a year of notable planetary alignments, we on Earth seem to be emulating the skies, yearning for alignment amid changing diplomatic alliances and efforts towards AI alignment. Politically, this year witnessed a global trade war, referendum talks in Canada, and nations joining and leaving international organizations. On the AI front, we saw growing calls to ensure that artificial intelligence acts in ways that accord with human values. This is easier said than done, since people cannot agree on what values AI should have. We sought alignment within ourselves, too, as part of the continued wellness trend: Google searches for “energetic alignment” surged this year.
We cannot be satisfied with merely calling for the moralization of machines—the so-called “alignment” of AI with human values—without also having the courage to insist on a further condition: the possibility of openly discussing the ethical frameworks involved and subjecting them to shared standards of social justice.
What’s Past is Prologue: The Roots of Alignment
The verb align was borrowed from the Middle French aligner and first appeared in English in the 1400s to describe canine mating, in allusion to the positioning needed for copulation. Align is related to the English word line. They both trace back to the Latin linea meaning “thread”, which itself comes from the Latin linum meaning “flax”.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the spelling align—with a g—took hold in imitation of the French, the noun form alignment appeared, and the noun and verb took on its general meaning of bringing things into line (think spinal alignment, wheel alignment and chakra alignment).
Alignment gathered new associations, or “lexical alignments” shall we say, in the 20th century. The AI alignment problem was first described in the 1960s. Character alignments entered Dungeons & Dragons lore in the 1970s, which introduced categories like lawful good and chaotic neutral.
A Very 2026 Timeline of Alignment
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January
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the international community finalize an agreement on the global minimum tax (GMT).
The United States withdraws from the Paris Agreement on fighting climate change for the second time.
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February
The AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, India, gathers over 600,000 attendees on the pillars of people, planet and progress.
A six-planet alignment or “parade” graces the night sky.
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May
The United Arab Emirates leaves the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), reducing the body’s collective power to manage the global oil supply.
Pope Leo XIV releases his first encyclical entitled Magnifica humanitas: On safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.
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July
Canada’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest is announced.
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August
A second rare six-planet alignment takes place.
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September
Researcher Jacob Coxon announces his resignation from Anthropic, amplifying warnings that AI could “kill us all” in the coming decade.
OpenAI calls for binding safety requirements for AI in the United States.
Canada holds its first defence coordination discussions with China in over eight years.
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October
Alberta holds a referendum, with nearly 75% of voters choosing to remain a province rather than initiating a process of voting to separate.
The Parti Québécois wins the provincial election in Quebec and promises a future referendum on independence.
Canada and the European Union announce a new “Alliance for the Future”, with Canada set to become the European Union’s first Associate Member.
Security researchers use AI to help identify years-old vulnerabilities in PHP, a computer language used in the majority of websites. After the announcement, AI-assisted cyberattacks are launched and many websites around the world go dark to handle the issue.
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November
The United States midterm election brings in a “blue wave” of votes for the Democratic Party. Texan State Senator Sarah Eckhardt defines it as a “realignment election”.
House Democrats pledge to consider legislation that will end Trump’s global tariffs.
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December
As we look back on the year that was, we can think about our own alignments and realignments for the year ahead.
Analogue (also spelled analog) reflects a wave of technological and cultural nostalgia, as seen in the viral “2026 is the new 2016” meme, “friction-maxxing” digital detoxes, and the popularity of hands-on hobbies. It also marks a trend towards “dumbphones” and other objects that are less exposed to cyber risks in response to an influx of vulnerable devices like smart refrigerators, smart coffee machines, and smart glasses. Many people yearn to get away from algorithmic fatigue and AI slop by seeking out more authentic content and “IRL” (in real life), embodied experiences. Proponents of analogue strive to live on their own terms in an age of unrelenting technological advancement.
The essence of analogization is not found in specific pieces of media or offline activities; it is, rather, the collective mindset of rejecting hyper-technologization.
What’s Past is Prologue: The Roots of Analogue
Analogue is related to analogy: they both come from French and, before that, the ancient Greek analogon meaning “analogous” (literally ana- “according to” and logos/logon “ratio”). The computing sense of analogue emerged in the 1940s and refers to media stored with signals that mimic (by way of analogy) the physical data being represented. It is the antonym of the zeros-and-ones binary processing of digital technology. As the world entered a digital age, analogue expanded in meaning to take on wider nostalgic and retro connotations. A hobby like model ship building or crosswords can be “analogue” without having anything to do with analogue technology. Likewise, the company named Analogue builds products that are actually digital but that evoke retro video game console aesthetics.
A Very 2026 Timeline of Analogue
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January
The Wall Street Journal reports that reducing screen time is the number one New Year’s resolution.
The attempted “Great Meme Reset” of 2026 begins, with netizens hoping to overhaul the algorithmic brainrot of micro-trends like “6–7” and dial Internet culture back to the days of layered, meaning-rich memes.
The “2026 is the New 2016” meme kicks off, with netizens waxing nostalgic on the “before times”.
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March
Arts and crafts company Michaels unveils its 2026 Creativity Trend Report, heralding an “Analogue Era” and reporting a spike in searches for analogue hobbies like knitting.
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April
Time magazine lists Barnes & Noble as one of the most influential companies of 2026, highlighting the bookstore’s brick-and-mortar revival and the resurgence of print books.
In their Q1 analysis, Eventbrite reports on the growing popularity of phone-free events, from phone-free concerts to phone-free silent reading clubs.
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May
Backrooms, the film adaptation of the eponymous analogue horror web series, becomes a huge box-office success.
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June
Polaroid launches a global “The Best of Summer is Analog” ad campaign to promote its smallest analogue instant camera, with billboards bearing messages like “Go jump in some water before the data centers drink it all up”.
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August
Pinterest’s Hobbies Trend Report takes note of “kitchen witchery” and a whole range of tactile, sensory pastimes popular on the site’s digital pinboards.
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September
The Recording Industry Association of America reports double-digit growth in vinyl and CD sales.
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October
Brick, the maker of the small magnetic app blocking device, launches their new product Brick Night, allowing users to combat doomscrolling when they’re in the vicinity of their bedroom.
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December
The cozy, festive season is a prime time for analogue hobbies: pretty ribbons and chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
Shenanigans—a word for describing playful and mischievous behaviour or deceptive and malicious activities—captures the mood of a chaotic and turbulent year, from cyberattacks on refrigerators and banking systems to a global trade war with its on-again, off-again tariffs. Add to that Trump’s jabs at Canadian sovereignty, a rigged music industry, and increasingly sophisticated scammers, and we see that the Year of the Fire Horse certainly lived up to its reputation for intensity.
Voting is core to our democratic system. If there are going to be shenanigans instigated by the federal government, it’s important for voters who witness them to get the word out.
What’s Past is Prologue: The Roots of Shenanigans
The etymological origins of shenanigans are cloaked in mystery. It’s one of those slang words that have stumped etymologists, which is fitting for a trickster term. It’s thought to have emerged in California during the Gold Rush of 1848 to 1855, and it’s found in print beginning in the 1850s. It’s Irish-sounding (think shamrock and Flanagan), so one theory links it to Irish sionnachuighim meaning “I play tricks”. This seems plausible, as many Irish Americans worked in the Gold Rush. On the other hand, it may be a borrowing from the Mexicans and Californios (Hispanic Californians) involved in the Gold Rush, from the Spanish chanada, which is shortened from charranada, meaning a trick or a scheme.
A Very 2026 Timeline of Shenanigans
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January
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife are abducted in their pyjamas in Venezuela by United States forces. Analysts are divided on whether this unusual heist has added to or reduced chaos in the region.
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February
Operation Epic Fury begins, followed by Iran blockading the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran and the US accusing each other of strategic and maritime deception.
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March
Nasdaq publishes its 2026 Global Financial Crime Report and states that we have “entered a new era” in financial crime driven by AI, industrialized fraud and global criminal networks.
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April
The United States launches its counter-blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
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June
Musician and record producer James Blake decries rigging in the music industry, posting, “If you’re an artist, remember that in 2026 there’s not a single part of the system that isn’t faked”.
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August
In one of many twists in the US–Canada trade war, part of a larger global trade war, the United States imposes 50% tariffs on a broad range of Canadian products.
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September
Student-led protests begin in France and spread throughout Europe, characterized by criticisms over the cost of living, education and corruption. A social media circus amplifies the chaos of the rioting.
President Trump pulls another linguistic stunt by moving to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America.
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October
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is hacked, marking the largest crypto heist in history.
“Unhinged” is announced as a finalist for social media word of the year by Sprout Social. This mischievous atmosphere on social media is also found in this year’s viral “the saxophones are getting louder” meme, a way of signalling a comically doomed turn of events.
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November
The United States midterm election unfolds amidst fears of foreign and domestic interference. Alaska is a focus of intrigue when Democrats allegedly planted on the senatorial ballot a man with the same name as the Republican candidate Dan Sullivan.
Two films about real-life events involving lies and deception are released: Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning and the documentary on Elizabeth Holmes entitled You Can See Everything by the “scholar of shenanigans” himself Nathan Fielder.
A spate of hoax bomb threats throws airlines and newsrooms into disarray in Europe.
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December
Here’s hoping December will bring no more shenanigans. But always keep your wits about you!
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The Method
This year marks Antidote’s first Word of the Year, following a hallowed lexicographical ritual begun by the American Dialect Society in 1990. Antidote’s linguists kept tabs on the words that marked the year, either because of the word itself or the concept it represents. We considered both neologisms and older terms with new relevance. Taking insights from news, cultural trends, search query data and corpus research, we narrowed the list to three finalists. The public decides the winner.
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