Selfie is the 2013 word of the year, Oxford Dictionaries announced Tuesday, edging out some stiff competition from twerk.

Usage of the word has increased 17,000 percent over the past 12 months, said Oxford Dictionaries, which publishes the mammoth Oxford English Dictionary (OED), styled as the definitive record of the English language.

Selfie is defined as "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website".

— Associated Press

In honor of selfie being named the word of the year, we have collected some of our favorite athlete selfies from Instagram.

Gymnast McKayla Maroney. Photo via Instagram/@mckaylamaroney

Clippers Chris Paul. Photo via Instagram/@cp3

Olympian Lolo Jones. Photo via Instagram/lolojones

Miami Heat player LeBron James. Photo via Instagram/@kingjames

Heavyweight UFC fighter Pat Barry. Photo via Instagram/@hypeordie Pat Barry

Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton. Photo via Instagram/@lewishamilton

Golfer Rickie Fowler. Photo via Instagram/@therealrickiefowler

Soccer player Sydney LeRoux. Photo via Instagram/@sydneyleroux

Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade. Photo via Instagram/@dwyanewade

Olympic swimmer Stephanie Rice.Photo via Instagram/@itsstephrice

Marlins player Giancarlo Stanton. Photo via Instagram/@giancarlo818

Swimmer Michael Phelps. Photo via Instagram/@m_phelps00

Orioles player Adam jones. Photo via Instagram/@simplyaj10

Skier Lindsey Vonn. Photo via Instagram/@lindseyvonn

Knicks player Carmelo Anthony. Photo via Instagram/@carmeloanthony

Boston red Sox player Shane Victorino. Photo via Instagram/@shanevictorino