Although the English language is growing, we are witnessing a decline in the growth of sophisticated words. New words are constantly being added to our dictionaries, yet many of them tend to reflect trends in entertainment and popular culture rather than advances in thought. Terms like “bootylicious,” “freestyle,” and “manscape” may be amusing or timely, but they reveal a pattern: much of our modern vocabulary is increasingly shaped by style rather than substance.
At the same time, few truly new words have been introduced to describe complex or abstract ideas. Consider that terms like “nationalism,” “existentialism,” and “intellectual”—now essential in academic and political discourse—are relatively modern inventions. Such words gave us tools to think with, ways to discuss intangible yet important concepts. Today, we seem to have stopped creating language for this kind of thinking.
This is where ChatGPT comes in. While artificial intelligence is often discussed in terms of automation or productivity, its potential as a creative and intellectual partner is just beginning to be recognized. ChatGPT has access to an extensive database of historical and contemporary language. It can perform etymological searches, generate new words based on established linguistic patterns, and assist users in refining vague ideas into precise terms.
Recently, I found myself searching for a word to describe a concept that was unclear or underdeveloped—something that exists mentally but without definition. Phrases like “loose idea” or “vague notion” felt inadequate. So I turned to ChatGPT for help. Together, we explored the roots of existing words and experimented with combinations of sounds and meanings. From this process emerged two neologisms:
- Blurion: a term for an idea that is present in the mind but remains hazy or ill-formed—like a blurred vision of a concept.
- Noncept: a word to describe something that appears to be a concept but lacks real content or coherence. It suggests the illusion of thought without substance.
Encouraged by this process, I continued exploring. With ChatGPT’s help, I created:
- Gesturic: an adjective to describe physical gestures or cultural expressions that reflect popular trends—such as social media poses, dances, or fashion signals. It refers to the communicative power of body language within modern culture.
- Ideonic: a term referring to abstract concepts, theoretical frameworks, or purely intellectual structures. A philosophy like postmodernism, for instance, would fall under the category of ideonic thought.
These examples show how artificial intelligence can contribute not just to everyday convenience, but to the very structure of our thinking. Language does not only reflect our thoughts—it shapes them. Without words to express complexity, we risk losing the ability to think complexly. As the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests, the boundaries of our vocabulary may define the boundaries of our cognition.
Fortunately, ChatGPT offers a way to push those boundaries outward. By giving users access to the raw materials of language—prefixes, roots, meanings, and histories—it enables the creation of new terms for new ideas. This is not about replacing natural language development, but enhancing it. With thoughtful use, AI can help revive a part of English that has been quietly fading: its power to capture abstract, subtle, and evolving forms of thought.
While popular culture will continue to shape language—as it always has—there is room to make space for intellectual growth as well. The challenge is not to resist change, but to guide it. If we want to keep English a rich and flexible tool for human expression, we must keep inventing the words we need. With curiosity, creativity, and tools like ChatGPT, we can begin to write the next chapter ourselves.
