brain rot

American  

[brayn raht] / ˈbreɪn ˌrɑt /

noun

1. Slang. a piece of media or a meme that is considered to have no functional or aesthetic value.

2. Slang. mental or social degradation, usually from a perceived excess of social media consumption.

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Other Word Forms

• brain-rotting adjective

Example Sentences

He talks of the risk of "brain rot" - the idea that our constant exposure to social media is harming our intellectual abilities.

From BBC

"I would say AI slop increases the brain rot effect, making people quickly consume content that they know is not only unlikely to be real, but probably not meaningful or interesting," he says.

From BBC

I have no idea what the latest unifying app with the youths is, but in my household it seems to be iMessage or similar group chats filled with memes and brain rot sourced from Pinterest and YouTube.

From Slate

The craze, which literally just involves saying “six-seven” and moving your hands up and down, is, however, a sign of Gen Alpha’s broader style of internet humor: brain rot.

From Slate

To hear the rest of this year’s list, and their contributions to 2025 digital culture discussed in full, listen to “Our Year of Brain Rot and Tech Dystopia.”

From Slate