Photobomb, an action brought to the nation's consciousness by a host of famous figures from Jennifer Lawrence to the Queen, has been named the word of the year by Collins English Dictionary.
Other finalists in the tome’s annual list include humblebrag, “a statement that purports to be self-effacing but in fact reveals a person’s wealth or importance”, and bakeoff, a term which took off in 2010 after the first series of The Great British Bake Off.
Further words include hangry, described as “irritable as a result of feeling hungry”, Bridezilla, “a woman whose behaviour in planning her wedding is described as intolerable”, and Tinder, the name of the popular dating app which matches users in their local area.
The first recorded use of the word photobomb was in 2008 as the subject of a Google search.
It went on to became widely used in 2012 when a number of amusing photographs went viral on the net, notably Lawrence making sure the focus of a picture of Taylor Swift at the Golden Globes was all on her, and Benedict Cumberbatch commandeering a photo of U2 at the Oscars.
And even the Queen got in on the action this summer when she appeared in the background of a snap taken at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Collins’ Word of the Year contest coincides with today’s publication of the new edition of Collins English Dictionary.
