The Tagalog word “gigil” has officially been added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)!
Included in the March 2025 update, gigil is now recognized as both a noun and an adjective. The OED defines it as “an intense feeling caused by anger, eagerness, or the pleasure of seeing someone or something cute or adorable, typically manifested through clenched fists, gritted teeth, trembling, or even playful pinching or squeezing.”
While gigil has been deeply embedded in Filipino conversations for generations, its earliest recorded usage in English, according to OED’s research, dates back to the 1990s. The dictionary’s first known reference to the term comes from the writing of C. G. Quan in 1990.
More Filipino words in the OED
Alongside gigil, several other Filipino words—many of which have no direct English equivalent—have also been officially added to the OED this month: CR, kababayan, load, lumpia, Pinoy, salakot, sando, terror, Thomasite, and videoke.
This latest inclusion joins other uniquely Filipino words, such as “kilig,” that have already become part of the international vocabulary.
