‘NFT’ named top word of the year by the dictionary publisher Collins

Collins, a dictionary publisher founded in 1824 recording over 4.5 billion words, named “NFT,” or ‘non-fungible token,’ as the top word of the for 2021.  

“It’s certainly a buzzword we’ve heard over and over again in the past 12 months, in breathless news reports and on social media,” the publisher wrote in a Wednesday blog post, describing it as the intersection between internet and money. 

As The Block’s data shows, interest in NFTs exploded in 2021. NFT transaction volume grew steadily since January and reached a record high of $1.05 billion in August of this year. 

Centuries-old art auction house Sotheby’s auctioned off numerous NFTs this year, even launching its own NFT platform called Sotheby’s Metaverse in October. Celebrities to join the bandwagon include Katy Perry, The Weeknd, Rob Gronkowski and Simone Biles. 

In addition to “NFT,” the Collins named “metaverse” and “crypto” as other top words of the year — also due to their increased interest within 2021. Other words on the list include “climate anxiety,” “double-vaxxed,” “cheugy,” “pingdemic,” “hybrid working,” “neopronoun” and “regencycore.”