2021 THE YEAR IN
26 TIME December 27, 2021/January 3, 2022
ILLUSTRATIONS BY KIM SIELBECK FOR TIME
cheugy
Adjective
A catchall descriptor for someone or
something that is basic, trying too hard or
not trendy; originating on TikTok, it’s often
used by Gen Z to deride millennial trendsCRITICAL
RACE THEORY
Noun
(1) An intellectual movement
contextualizing the effects of
structural racism;
(2) A buzzword in the debate
over how students should be
learning about racemurraya
Noun
(1) A genus of tropical
Asiatic and Australian
trees and shrubs;
(2) The word with which
Zaila Avant-garde in July
became the fi rst Black
American winner of the
Scripps National Spelling
Bee, which dates to 1925
NFT
Initialism
Nonfungible token: a digital
fi le that cannot be copied,
thus allowing certifi ed
ownership of a virtual assetREGENCYCORE
Noun, adjective
A fashion and culture trend inspired by the look
of the British Regency period—or by Netfl ix’s hit
Bridgerton and the series’ celebration of early
19th century aristocrats and their glamorous foiblesMETAVERSE
Noun
(1) A digital realm or
collective of virtual
experiences, environments
and assets; (2) A vision
of the future of the
Internet, as promulgated
by Facebook’s October
announcement that it was
renaming itself Metahot vax
summer
Noun
A season of surging social
action for vaccinated singles,
predicted (if not realized)
aftera yearof distancing
ECO-
ANXIETY
Noun
Signifi cant
unease or fear
about climate
change and the
current and future
environmental harm
it poses to the earthdeplatform
Ve rb
To ban, boycott or otherwise limit the infl uence of someone on
a platform—usually a social media or other public forumbreakthrough
Adjective
Used to describe an infection,
as with COVID-19, that occurs
despite vaccination against
the diseaseSECOND
GENTLEMAN
Title
The male partner of a
U.S. Vice President (see:
Doug Emhoff, husband of
Kamala Harris)hybrid
Adjective
To be composed
of mixed
parts, as in an
employment
model in which
employees are
expected to mix
in-person and
remote workLanguage