Every year, major dictionaries choose a “Word of the Year” to capture the mood and cultural conversation shaping our lives.
From the rise of AI-generated content to the emotional rollercoaster of social media, the 2025 picks show where our attention is going and what we’re trying to make sense of.
2025 Picks
Oxford - rage bait
Content made to provoke anger and outrage.
Why: usage surged as people noticed how platforms amplify negativity.
Collins - vibe coding
Using AI prompts to generate code instead of writing it manually.
Why: it signals how creative and technical work is shifting.
Cambridge - parasocial
A one-sided emotional relationship with a celebrity or creator.
Why: influencer culture made this idea mainstream.
Macquarie - AI slop
Low-quality, mass-produced AI content.
Why: frustration grew about content noise and quality.
Dictionary.com - 67
A meme-driven, flexible slang term.
Why: it shows how Gen Z/Alpha keep reinventing language.
What These Words Say About 2025
We’re overwhelmed by digital emotion and aware of how platforms trigger it.
AI is shaping creativity, communication, and work faster than ever.
Relationships now exist across screens, even when one-sided.
Content quality is a growing concern as AI floods the internet.
Younger generations are redefining language through memes and slang.
Words don’t just describe the world — they reveal what matters to us. And in 2025, we’re clearly thinking about AI, attention, emotion, creativity, and connection more than ever.
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