Other forms: earworms
An earworm is a catchy song that gets stuck in your head — like a tune from a commercial that you can't stop humming no matter what you do.
Historically, the word earworm was used for various bugs, such as the earwig or the bollworm. People still refer to corn earworms, which can destroy crops. But at some point around the 1980s, the word gained a new meaning: an annoyingly catchy song. These songs wriggle their way into your brain — and stay there — the way a corn earworm might wriggle its way into an ear of corn. Scientists have yet to find a cure for chronic earworms, perhaps because they're too distracted by the songs stuck in their heads!