How to find available .com domains in word-of-the-year lists
Each year, dictionaries pick a word of the year and publish shortlists of runners-up. Lexicographers have already done the hard part: judging which new words are real and significant.
The winner gets the attention, and its .com. The shortlists and older years' lists get far less, and that's where to look.
Where to look
- Wikipedia: Word of the year
Every major dictionary's picks, by year.
- Oxford Word of the Year
Oxford's winners and shortlists, with commentary.
- Merriam-Webster: new words
Words newly added to the dictionary. Browse with the extension.
- Collins Word of the Year
Collins' list. Browse with the extension.
Why this works
These lists are the only source here with professional curation: lexicographers with usage data decide what counts as significant. That makes them reliable, and it also means the obvious opportunities are gone within a day of publication.
The value is in what surrounds the winner. Shortlists run to ten or more words a year, per dictionary, and older lists are barely looked at once the news cycle passes.
Step by step
- 1
Start with a round-up that collects every dictionary's picks, going back years.
- 2
Scan each publisher's own announcement for the shortlist and commentary.
- 3
Skip the winners: expect them to be taken.
- 4
Focus on runners-up and on phrases built on winning words.
- 5
Check the .coms, and read the dictionary's explanation of each word.
What NameHawk found
A selection of the words NameHawk flagged as new on these pages when they were scanned on 2026-09-19. Pages change, and so does availability: scan them yourself for what's there today.
What makes a good find here
- Shortlisted words that lost to a bigger story that year.
- Two-word phrases on the lists ('goblin mode', 'rage bait').
- Older years' runners-up that have kept their meaning.
What to watch out for
- Winners and famous runners-up are registered fast.
- Some picks are tied to one year's news and fade.
- Several publishers block automated fetching; use the extension for those.
Common questions
- Is there any point looking at old lists?
- Yes. Words that were shortlisted years ago and have since settled into normal use are often still available in some form, and they've proven they last.
- Which dictionary should I follow?
- All of them; they rarely agree. A round-up page covers every publisher at once.
The other nine methods
- Academic preprints
- Technical white papers
- Social media and meme trackers
- Crowd-sourced slang dictionaries
- Fan fiction
- Game wikis and patch notes
- Laws and regulations
- Software release notes
- Job postings