More Filipino words have been added to the Oxford Dictionary!
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Described as the word that appears “regularly on lists of untranslatable words,“ gigil has been included in the Oxford Dictionary’s March 2025 update.
The dictionary defines it as both a noun and an adjective, meaning “a feeling we get when we see someone or something cute, a feeling so intense that it gives us the irresistible urge to tightly clench our hands, grit our teeth, and pinch or squeeze whomever or whatever it is we find so adorable, whether it be a chubby-cheeked baby or a fluffy little kitten.”
The Oxford Dictionary further explains that gigil functions as an adjective denoting the person experiencing the emotion.
“Gigil is a pithy name for such a strange, paradoxical emotion, and apart from its use as a noun, it can also be employed as an adjective to describe the person experiencing it. So, if a Filipino says they’re gigil, they’re just dealing with overwhelming feelings (usually positive),” it added.
The Oxford Dictionary even provided examples of sentences using the term from 1990 to 2024.
Other Filipino words in the Oxford Dictionary’s March 2025 update include salakot, kababayan, lumpia, videoke, sando, load, CR, and Thomasite.
Furthermore, words such as alamak from Malaysia and Singapore, yoh from South Africa, and class from Ireland were added.
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