"goblin mode" beat the meta-universe, which beat Oxford's Word of the Year by a landslide. The Oxford English Dictionary's makers say "metaverse," a word not used in a professional context until last year, came in second, with usage nearly quadrupling from the previous year. "goblin mode" is a slang term used to describe "an unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy behavior."