“The word ‘demure’ experienced a meteoric rise in usage in 2024. Between January and the end of August, this term saw a nearly 1200% increase in usage in digital web media alone,” the announcement read. “This sharp rise is mainly attributed to TikToker Jools Lebron’s popularization of the phrase.”

In 2024, Dictionary.com crowned “demure” as its word of the year, but its cultural significance transcended its definition, thanks to TikToker Jools Lebron. Her August clip, where she playfully used the word,