earworm

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earworm

/ˈɪəwɜːm/ UK
/ˈɪːwəːm/ British, Southern, Standard
/ˈɪjəwəːm/ British, Southern, Standard
/ˈjøːwøːm/ UK, Wales
/ˈiː.əwøːm/ UK, Wales
/ˈiɾwʌɾm/ Scotland, UK
/ˈiɛ̯weːm/ UK
/ˈɪəwɛːm/ UK
/ˈiː.əwɛːm/ UK
/ˈɛːwɜːm/ UK
/ˈɪ(ə)ɹˌwɚm/ US
/ˈɪəwɜːm/ Australia
/ˈiəwøːm/ New Zealand

Where it comes from

From ear + worm; senses 1 and 3 (“tune that keeps replaying in one’s head”; “earwig”) are a calque of German Ohrwurm (“tune that pops up in one’s memory all the time; earwig”) (from the idea of a creature burrowing into the ear, an erroneous belief where earwigs are concerned), while sense 2 (“moth larva”) refers to the fact that these pests infest, among other things, ears of maize or sweet corn.

noun earworms · ear worm · ear-worm

A tune that keeps replaying in one's head or that one keeps thinking about, especially if unwanted. The chorus [of "Meeting in the Ladies Room" by Klymaxx] spawned an earworm so potent that women still mutter it as they exit for a bathroom break twenty years later.
Similar: brainworm
abbreviation, ellipsis Ellipsis of corn earworm (“larva of the moths Helicoverpa zea (syn. Heliothis zea) and Helicoverpa armigera, which are agricultural pests”). I had planned in mind to tell you [...] how I protected, that is, guaranteed, Evergreen sweet corn against the bud worm and the ear worm; [...]
archaic An earwig; an insect of the order Dermaptera. Earwig, [...] The ear-worm or grub, a well-known insect, with large transparent wings, which eats fruit and flower-leaves, and has been erroneously supposed to creep into the human brain through the ear; [...]

Translations

Every language

noun tune that keeps replaying in one's head

Español	gusano auditivo, gusano cerebral
日本語	イヤーワーム iyāwāmu
中文	耳蟲 /耳虫 ěrchóng
Português	música chiclete, chiclete
Français	ver d’oreille
Deutsch	Ohrwurm
Italiano	tormentone
Русский	навязчивая мело́дия navjazčivaja melódija
Tiếng Việt	sâu tai

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MLA

"earworm." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/earworm. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

earworm. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/earworm

Chicago

"earworm." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/earworm.

BibTeX

@misc{earworm_2026,
  title = {earworm},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/earworm},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}