New words – 9 February 2026

On February 9, 2026February 5, 2026 By Cambridge WordsIn New words, the English language13 Comments

fricy adjective
/ˈfraɪ.si/
having a taste that is both fruity and spicy

“Fricy” is 2026’s defining food trend, fusing fruity and spicy flavours in bold, new ways. Born out of a growing appetite for contrast-driven flavours, fricy food distinguishes itself by leaning into an intensified interplay of heat and sweetness, resulting in dishes that are sharper, more vibrant, and impossible to ignore compared to traditional spicy or fruity fare.
[oteats.outlooktraveller.com, 25 January 2026]

swangy adjective
/ˈswæŋ.i/
having a taste that is both sweet and tangy

Swangy foods will have chefs thinking outside the box, too, creating foods that are the best of both worlds. These two flavor profiles balance each other out, with tangy ingredients brightening sweet ingredients, and sweet ingredients mellowing out the sharpness of mouth-puckering notes.
[tastingtable.com, 17 January 2026]

spour adjective
UK /spaʊəʳ/ US /spaʊr/
having a taste that is both spicy and sour

The world of drinks is also moving in the same direction, adopting spicy and sour variations that reinterpret well-known classics. This has led to the creation of cocktails known as “spour,” where spicy and citrus flavors meet, and ingredients such as Tajín become a permanent fixture on the rims of glasses. The success of these flavors reflects a more curious public, less fearful of spice and increasingly attracted to immediate but layered taste experiences.
[reportergourmet.com, 8 January 2026]

About new words

Poker faced or heart on your sleeve? Showing or hiding emotions.

On February 4, 2026January 27, 2026 By Liz WalterIn Idioms, the English language7 Comments

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by Liz Walter

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the most visited painting in the world, is famous for its subject’s strange smile. That smile is often described as enigmatic, meaning that it is rather mysterious and it is impossible to guess what she is thinking. Today’s post looks at some other words and phrases to do with people hiding or showing their emotions. Continue reading “Poker faced or heart on your sleeve? Showing or hiding emotions.” →

Woman drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.

Flavour of the month (Newspaper idioms)

On January 28, 2026January 28, 2026 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms and phrases in newspapers, the English language17 Comments

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by Kate Woodford

The idioms and phrases in today’s post all come from a range of national newspapers published on the same day. I write a post like this every couple of months in order to provide you with a regular supply of frequent, contemporary English idioms. Continue reading “Flavour of the month (Newspaper idioms)” →

Child doing a gesture for asking a favour.

I need to ask you a favour: signalling what we are going to say

On January 21, 2026January 13, 2026 By Liz WalterIn Conversation, the English language10 Comments

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by Liz Walter

When we want to speak to someone for a specific reason, we don’t usually begin immediately with the thing we want to say. Instead, we often use a phrase that will help the other person get some idea of what sort of conversation it is going to be. Continue reading “I need to ask you a favour: signalling what we are going to say” →

New words – 19 January 2026

On January 19, 2026January 19, 2026 By Cambridge WordsIn New words, the English language3 Comments

analogue bag noun [C]
UK /ˈæn.ə.lɒg ˌbæg/ US /ˈæn.ə.lɑːg ˌbæg/
a bag filled with activities such as knitting or books to help someone use their smartphone less in their free time

So-called analogue bags, filled with activities such as crosswords, knitting, novels and journals, have become the unexpected accessory of the season. They are being championed by millennials and gen Z as a way to reduce screen time – the idea is that the bag should contain the essentials needed to remain offline for as long as possible.
[theguardian.com, 9 January 2026]

Janalogue noun [C]
UK /ˈdʒæn.ə.lɒg/ US /ˈdʒæn.ə.lɑːg/
a campaign organized in the month of January that encourages people to spend less time using digital devices and more time on non-digital activities

Deloitte expects the next New Year’s resolution trend could be a digital detox, with Brits starting the year with an “analogue January” or “Janalogue” – a conscious disconnect from digital devices and apps. Of course, some resolutions may not endure, but “Janalogue” could well become an annual month of digital disconnection for UK consumers.
[advanced-television.com, 17 December 2025]

friction-maxxing noun [U]
/ˈfrɪk.ʃᵊn.ˌmæksɪŋ/
the practice of making everyday activities slightly less convenient to reduce reliance on digital devices and to discourage overuse

Paying with cash instead of a card. Using a flip-phone instead of a smartphone. Expressing your true opinion, even if it causes tension. Welcome to the new trend of friction-maxxing that’s catalyzing what it means to be human in 2026. Kathryn Jezer-Morton argues that in the face of technologies that sell us escapism at every turn, we need to build up tolerance for “inconvenience” and start friction-maxxing.
[cybernews.com, 7 January 2026]

About new words

Talking about death (Part 2)

On January 14, 2026January 13, 2026 By Kate WoodfordIn Conversation, Idioms, Synonyms, the English language12 Comments

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by Kate Woodford

My first post on death and dying looked at softer, less direct ways of talking about this subject, for example saying that we ‘lose’ a person or that a person ‘passes away’ rather than saying they ‘die’. Today, I’m looking at idioms and phrases generally in this area, some of which are also gently euphemistic. Continue reading “Talking about death (Part 2)” →

Ice-cold and freezing: words for describing things that are cold

On January 7, 2026December 11, 2025 By Liz WalterIn Synonyms, the English language, Vocabulary13 Comments

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By Liz Walter

In my last post I wrote about hot and warm temperatures. Today’s post looks at vocabulary for things that are colder, again with an emphasis on what each word or phrase can describe.

Something that is cool is quite cold. This is almost always a positive description, especially when it contrasts with something that is too hot:

There was a lovely cool breeze coming from the sea.

If we say that there is a chill – or more informally a nip – in the air, we mean that the weather is rather cold. A person who is very cold might describe themselves as being chilled to the bone. Chilly describes cold places, people or parts of the body, while nippy is used for the weather or the air but not usually people or parts of the body. Neither adjective is very emphatic:

There’s a real chill in the air this morning.

After two hours waiting at the bus stop, I was chilled to the bone.

I was feeling rather chilly.

It’s a bit nippy outside today.

There are several words or phrases for talking about very cold temperatures. A general and very common one is freezing or freezing cold. This can be used for objects, weather and people:

My feet are absolutely freezing!

It was a freezing cold day.

Something that is icy is either covered in ice or extremely cold. This adjective can be used for most things, as can the expressions ice-cold and as cold as ice, which both emphasize extreme coldness. Stone-cold tends to be used rather negatively for something that was once hot or which should be hot:

We shivered in the icy wind.

I’d love an ice-cold drink.

Her hands were as cold as ice.

By then, the soup was stone-cold.

We can say that a place or the weather is bitter or bitterly cold. These words are negative and imply that the cold is painful:

We tried to shelter from the bitter wind.

It was bitterly cold on the mountain.

In extremely cold climates, we may talk about sub-zero temperatures. Glacial and arctic are also emphatic adjectives for extremely low temperatures:

Parts of the country experienced sub-zero temperatures last night.

Glacial temperatures added to their problems.

The temperature in his room was positively arctic.

Liquids that are only slightly warm may be described as lukewarm or tepid. Both these words usually express disapproval and imply that the thing being described should be hotter:

The food was lukewarm.

The water in the bath was tepid.

I hope these temperature words are useful. Let me know in the comments if you can think of any more!

Talking about death (Part 1)

On December 31, 2025December 18, 2025 By Kate WoodfordIn Synonyms, the English language, Vocabulary25 Comments

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by Kate Woodford

The theme of today’s blog post may not be exactly cheerful, but you might just find it useful. The subject is death and dying. Whether we like it or not, it’s something that we all talk about at some point in our lives. Continue reading “Talking about death (Part 1)” →

Red-hot and roasting: words for describing things that are hot.

On December 24, 2025December 18, 2025 By Liz WalterIn Synonyms, the English language, Vocabulary4 Comments

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By Liz Walter

There are a lot of words for talking about temperature in English. Many of them describe particular types of thing. For example, some adjectives can be used to describe the weather but not food or people. This post is the first of a pair, and looks at some common words for things that are hot or warm.

I’ll start with red-hot, which is an emphatic word for something that is extremely hot. We use this adjective for objects, often metal objects, and not usually for weather or food:

Don’t touch that saucepan – it’s red-hot!

We talk about blistering or scorching (hot) weather, but we don’t usually use these words to talk about how people feel when they experience it:

They worked all afternoon in the blistering heat.

It was a scorching hot day.

There are however several words that can refer to both hot weather and the way we feel in it. These include baking (hot), boiling (hot), roasting (hot) and sweltering:

Everyone on the train was baking, but we couldn’t turn the heaters off.

It’s boiling hot here in the summer.

There was no shade on the beach and we were roasting.

We were forced to walk miles in the sweltering heat.

Scalding is an emphatic word used for liquids and implies that they will hurt you if you touch them. On the other hand, piping (hot) usually describes food or drink and is a rather positive description:

She accidentally put her hand in the scalding water.

Make sure the food is piping hot before you eat it.

If someone is too hot because they are ill, we say they have a temperature/are running a temperature, and if they are very hot because of a fever, we might say that they are burning (up):

Tom was running a temperature and feeling very ill.

She was burning up in the night.

If something is warm, it is fairly hot but not very hot. This word usually describes a pleasant temperature. Two more positive words are toasty, which usually describes a person’s body or sometimes a place that is comfortably warm, and balmy, which describes warm weather:

Make sure you stay warm if you’re going out in the snow.

My thick coat kept me toasty.

It was a balmy afternoon and we sat outside.

If you have found these words useful, look out for my next post, which will look at some of the words that describe things that are cold, or only slightly warm.

New words – 22 December 2025

On December 22, 2025December 18, 2025 By Cambridge WordsIn New words, the English language1 Comment

Yurii Yarema / iStock / Getty Images Plus

quiet cracking noun [U]
/ˌkwaɪ.ət ˈkrækɪŋ/
the situation where an employee keeps coming into work and doing their job, but feels privately unhappy and disengaged

Quiet cracking is when workers continue to show up to work and do their job but “struggle in silence while they do it”, according to Frank Giampietro, EY Americas chief wellbeing officer. In an interview with Business Insider, Giampietro said a lot more workers who wanted to leave were feeling trapped in their current roles as a result of the current hiring downturn.
[peoplemanagement.co.uk, 18 August 2025]

job hugging noun [U]
UK /ˈdʒɒb ˌhʌgɪŋ/ US /ˈdʒɑːb ˌhʌgɪŋ/
the fact of staying in a job because it provides security, even if you don’t enjoy it and it no longer feels rewarding

A cute new term for a morbid reality has cropped up online, describing workers who cling to their jobs out of fear about reentering the dismal job market: “Job hugging.” In many ways, the “job hugging” trend is a reversal of the so-called “great resignation” of the pandemic era, when workers felt safe walking away from positions they didn’t want, confident they’d find work elsewhere.
[independent.co.uk, 4 November 2025]

See also the Great Resignation

hybrid creep noun [U]
/ˈhaɪ.brɪd ˌkriːp/
the gradual increase in days employees are expected to come into the office, even though the company officially has a hybrid working policy

There has also been a recent increase in employers gradually pushing to bring employees into the office more frequently, often without a formal announcement, known as “hybrid creep”. According to career expert Peter Duris, it’s becoming more commonplace. “However, some employers may want to see more faces in the office, but do this without formally updating any policies.”
[stylist.co.uk, 30 October 2025]

About new words