Dubbed the ‘controversial global trend’, ‘manifest’ is Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year. So, what’s it all about?

It’s a word used by wellness professionals and celebrities alike, and it wracked up almost 130,000 searches on the Cambridge Dictionary website in 2024 – so, it’s no surprise the dictionary has named ‘manifest’ its word of the year.

Manifest (Verb): To use methods such as visualisation and affirmation to help you imagine achieving something you want, in the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen.

Speaking about the decision to name ‘manifest’ as word of the year, Wenalyn Nichols, Publishing manager of the Cambridge Dictionary said: “When we choose a Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year, we have three considerations:  What word was looked up the most, or spiked? Which one really captures what was happening in that year? And what is interesting about this word from a language point of view?

"Manifest won this year because it increased notably in lookups, its use widened greatly across all types of media due to events in 2024, and it shows how the meanings of a word can change over time.”

Although it may feel like a particularly modern word and idea, ‘manifest’ has a 600-year history where the meaning has evolved with time. In the 14th century, ‘manyfest’ was used by Geoffrey Chaucer as an adjective meaning ‘easily noticed or obvious’. Centuries later, ‘manifest destiny’ was used in American politics to describe the belief that American settlers were destined to expand across North America.

One of the earliest usages that shares similarities with today’s was by Shakespeare, who used manifest as an adjective in The Merchant of Venice: 'For it appears, by manifest proceeding, that... thou hast contrived against the very life of the defendant'.

But, despite its popularity, the naming of ‘manifest’ as the word of the year did come with a warning.

“Manifesting is what psychologists call ‘magical thinking’ or the general illusion that specific mental rituals can change the world around us,” says Dr Sander van der Liden, professor of social psychology at the University of Cambridge.

“Manifesting gained tremendous popularity during the pandemic on TikTok with billions of views, including the popular 3-6-9 method which calls for writing down your wishes three times in the morning, six times in the afternoon, and nine times before bed. This procedure promotes obsessive and compulsive behaviour with no discernible benefits. But can we really blame people for trying it, when prominent celebrities have been openly ‘manifesting’ their success?”

While Dr Sander van der Liden notes that there is research to suggest that positive thinking, self-affirmation, and goal-setting can have a positive influence on us, he cautions people against investing too much faith in manifestation.

“It is crucial to understand the difference between the power of positive thinking and moving reality with your mind – the former is healthy, whereas the latter is pseudoscience.”

Is it possible to use manifestation responsibly?

The short answer is, yes. But in order to do so, you should make sure that you check in with yourself about how it’s making you feel and what actions you may be taking as a result of it. For example, if you ‘manifesting’ a change in your life but not taking actions to care for yourself each day, you may end up neglecting your needs and inadvertently trap yourself further.

If manifestation also leaves you feeling hopeless, out of control, or frustrated, that could also be a sign that this wellness practice is not working for you, and it’s time to step away.

But, for others, manifestation can be a way of gaining some clarity around the things that you want in life and, by ‘putting them out there’ (either by speaking them or writing them down) it can make them feel more achievable.

Giving it a go

Tempted to try it out for yourself? Clinical hypnotherapist and NLP practitioner Amy Reeve has some tips:

“I would suggest getting really specific on what it is that you want. Do you want a new job? Great! How much do you want to get paid? What hours do you want to work? What do you want the career progression to look like?

“If it's a relationship, what values do you want your partner to have? What type of life do you want to have with that partner? How much independence do you want from a relationship? Write all this down. Once we know what we want, it can be much easier to spot it when it arrives.”

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