Words are the tools of our trade, and make up at least half of our human ability to communicate with others. Language is all about engaging more closely with the world around you.
New words, changes to the meanings of words, and the demise of some are our technological and sociological thermometers of what is happening in our physical, social, political, and environmental reality. Keeping up is far more than just trying not to sound stupid to our grandchildren when we don’t know what they are talking about.
WHY A WORD FOR THE YEAR?
The tradition of dictionaries selecting a “Word of the Year” started in Germany in 1971 and has become a cherished ritual for individuals and organizations throughout the world. Dictionaries and lexicographers tend to select words which reflect societal trends while individuals and organizations choose personal words to serve as a guiding light for the year ahead.
The American Dialect Society's (ADS) “Word of the Year”, the oldest English-language version, has been designating one or more words of terms to be their “Word of the Year” since 1990.
ADS is a not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to encourage the study of any aspect of all languages and dialects used or found in North America (as well as associated islands in the Pacific and the Atlantic) and in the Caribbean Basin, and the languages that influence them: spoken, signed, or written, modern or historical, Indigenous or introduced, common or rare.
The ADS selection is made by votes of independent linguists and the decision is not tied to any commercial interests and, unlike most similar competitions, it is the only one announced after the end of the calendar year. The society also selects words in other categories such as "Most Outrageous," "Most Creative," and "Most Likely to Succeed."
“Words of the Year” chosen by dictionaries come out before the end of the year and often reflect pivotal moments in language and culture, similar to a linguistic time capsule, reflecting social trends and global events that defined the year.
AND THE WINNER IS…!
Oxford University Press = Rage Bait
◄Image Source: freepick.com
Lexicographer Susie Dent told the BBC, “The person producing it will bask in the millions, quite often, of comments and shares and even likes sometimes… because although we love fluffy cats, we’ll appreciate that we tend to engage more with negative content and content that really provokes us.”’’ This is a result of the algorithms used by social media companies.
Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, said that "the fact that the word rage bait exists and has seen such a dramatic surge in usage means we're increasingly aware of the manipulation tactics we can be drawn into online".
Contenders: aura farming, biohack.
Dictionary.com = 67
Pronounced as two words “six-seven” (and absolutely never as sixty-seven), the term originated with a song called “Doot Doot (6 7)” by Skrilla. The word is written as 6 7, 6-7, or six-seven. ▼Image Source: Newsweek.com
The definition of 6-7 is somewhat illusive. Some say it means “so-so,” or “maybe this, maybe that,” especially when accompanied with a both-palms-up gesture and move alternately up and down. Some youngsters, sensing an opportunity to reliably frustrate their elders, will use it to stand in for a reply to just about any question.
Perhaps the most defining feature of 67 is that it’s impossible to define. It’s meaningless, ubiquitous, and nonsensical. In other words, it has all the hallmarks of brainrot. It’s the logical endpoint of being perpetually online, scrolling endlessly, consuming content fed to users by algorithms trained by other algorithms.
Contenders: aura farming, agentic, clanker, dynamite emoji, Gen Z Stare, broligarchy, Kiss cam, tariff, tradwife, overtourism.
Cambridge Dictionary = parasocial
“Parasocial” is defined as involving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know, a character in a book, film, TV series, etc., or an artificial intelligence.
‘Parasocial’ is not a new word. The term was coined by American sociologists, Donald Horton and Richard Wohl from the University of Chicago, in 1956, when they observed Television viewers engaging in "para-social" relationships with on-screen personalities. They noted how the rapidly expanding medium of television brought the faces of actors directly into viewers' homes, making them fixtures in people's lives.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgmv877746o
as his number 1 parasocial.”
The pick, in part, stemmed from fans' reactions to one of the year's biggest moments in pop culture, Taylor Swift's engagement with football star Travis Kelce. The singer's fandom, commonly known as the Swifties, has formed a deep interest in her romantic life, despite not knowing her in real life. "Millions of fans related to Taylor Swift’s confessional lyrics about dating, heartbreak, and desire, leading to what psychologists describe as 'parasocial' bonds with stars," the news release stated.
Collins Dictionary = Vibe Coding
▲ Image source: logodix.com even exists”.
◄ Image Source: www.medium.com
The question is, are the people ingesting and regurgitating this content soon to be called AI sloppers?”
Macquarie Dictionary arrived at “AI slop” as the word of the year after first narrowing down the options to 65 words, before whittling it down further to a shortlist of 15, which contained other modern colloquialisms like “ate (and left no crumbs)”—“an expression used to indicate that someone has performed or executed something perfectly”— which can refer to “any of various events, interests, subjects, etc., that one finds themselves frequently thinking about, especially one considered unusual.”
THE “ALSO RAN” CONTENDERS
These definitions and commentary are quoted, with my minor modifications, directly from https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-year-2025/.
Agentic
Traditionally, agentic has been used in psychology and sociology to describe human capacity to act independently, make choices, and shape one’s environment. However, as AI continues to advance, the word has evolved to describe technologies that can perform tasks autonomously and make independent decisions — so-called agentic AI.
This emerging sense of agentic captures the blurring boundary between human and machine initiative, reflecting society’s growing fascination and concern about the idea of technology possessing a kind of self-directed capability once thought uniquely human.
Aura farming
The term aura farming saw a sharp rise in usage in 2025. Combining aura (in the modern sense of charisma, style, or personal energy) with farming (meaning “cultivation” or “deliberate effort”), the term refers to the practice of intentionally developing one’s presence or vibe. The term crystallized around the viral “boat kid” meme, which showed a young man dancing at the prow of a racing boat in Indonesia. His confident moves, endlessly remixed and celebrated online, became the emblem of the broader phenomenon of curating one’s image and energy for public admiration.
Broligarchy
Broligarchy is a combination of bro and oligarchy. In 2025 this word has become one of year’s defining political neologisms. Playful yet pointed, broligarchy captures the public frustration felt in some circles with the concentration of power among a small, culturally homogenous elite. The word exemplifies how language evolves to make sense of power structures, offering both satire and social critique in a single, memorable coinage.
Clanker
Once a niche sci-fi term used to describe literal robots, clanker surged in popularity since mid-2025, emerging as a viral, often mocking label for artificial intelligence. Clanker has been repurposed for the digital age, and is commonly used to deride AI systems, chatbots, and other nonhuman technologies, and its rise mirrors growing unease over the role of AI in society.
Dynamite emoji
The dynamite emoji, traditionally representing dynamite, a firecracker, or TNT, took on an unexpected new meaning in 2025. Once used to convey excitement, impact, explosive energy, or literal firecrackers, the term began to see a playful reinterpretation following the engagement of singer Taylor Swift and professional footballer Travis Kelce. Across social media, the emoji was rebranded as shorthand for the couple themselves — “T ‘n’ T,” or “T & T” — symbolizing a relationship that fans saw as both powerful and endearing. The rise of the dynamite emoji in this context highlights how digital symbols evolve alongside cultural moments.
Gen Z stare
The term Gen Z stare refers to a blank or expressionless look often attributed to members of Generation Z, particularly in workplace or retail settings. While some commentators have tried to analyze the Gen Z stare as a deeper psychological response to post-pandemic social upheaval, most people use the term playfully as part of an ongoing, lighthearted tug-of-war between generations.
Kiss cam
The kiss cam, long a staple of sports arenas and concert venues, found new cultural life in 2025 as shorthand for public exposure and digital schadenfreude. The a viral moment that captured global attention occurred on July 16, when two executives from the data company Astronomer were shown together on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert. Their visibly awkward reaction — ducking, hiding their faces, and refusing to play along — quickly turned into one of the year’s most talked-about viral clips.
Overtourism
Overtourism refers to the overwhelming influx of visitors to popular destinations, leading to environmental strain, cultural disruption, and local frustration. The word has been around since 2010, but experienced new highs in usage globally since the Covid-19 pandemic. The increase in tourism has resulted in things like Venice’s new tourist tax and Japan’s restrictions on access to Mount Fuji. Viral clips of visitors behaving badly all brought overtourism to the forefront of public debate.
Tariff
The word tariff has reemerged as a focal point of political and economic discussion in 2025, marking a resurgence for a powerful mechanism that has shaped global commerce for centuries. This past year tariff has taken on new political weight, reflecting how economic instruments once confined to policy circles are now wielded as tools of diplomacy and national strategy.
Tradwife
The term tradwife, short for “traditional wife,” was originally tied to conservative subcultures that idealize a dutiful, domestic model of femininity. This year the word has since broadened into a label for an aesthetic as much as an ideology. While some embrace the tradwife identity as a personal choice, others critique it as reinforcing outdated gender roles.
PRIOR ADS WINNERS
They issue an annual award Word of the Year but also rate candidate for the honor in relation to:
● Most Outrageous
● Most Euphemistic
● Most Likely to Succeed
● Most Useful
● Political Word of the Year
● Digital Word opf the Year
● Most Creative
● Most Unnecessary
● Least Likely to Succeed.
Their selections over the past several years show a definite biases, although it is claimed that they voters are not making judgements about the “quality” of the words, but more on the frequency of use. The winners of the Word of the Year are as follows:
● 2024 – “rawdog” = (v) To do something hard or boring without any aid, preparation, or diversions
● 2023 – “enshittification” = (n) When a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits
● 2022 – “-ussy” = suffix from “pussy” (as in “bussy” = “boy pussy,” now humorously attached to many words); also “-ussification”: the process of creating new blended words with the “-ussy” suffix.
● 2021 – “Insurrection” = (v) violent attempt to take control of the government, applied to the Capitol attack of Jan. 6, 2021
● 2020 – “Covid” = (n) Shorthand for Covid-19, the name given to the disease caused by infection from novel coronavirus; also used more broadly to refer to the pandemic and its impacts. Used to sum up chaotic and despondent feelings inspired by the year’s events
● 2019 - “(My) Pronouns,” Word of the Decade is Singular “They” - introduction for sharing one’s set of personal pronouns (“pronouns: she/her”)
● 2018 – “tender-age shelter/camp/facility = (n) government detention center for asylum-seekers’ children.
● 2017 – “fake news” = (n) Disinformation or falsehoods presented as real news. Actual news that is claimed to be untrue. “alternative facts” = Contrary information that matches one’s preferred narrative or interpretation of events.
TAKE AWAY
Following the “Words of the Year” is less about words to use in your writing and more about social trends and issues that sparked interest among a wide variety of people. The nominees and selected words demonstrate how language adapts to our social and physical environment and ignites debate in this modern digital culture.
Language is a work in progress.
JUST SAYIN'
Sources:
https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/cambridge-dictionary-reveals-word-of-the-year-2025
https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-year-2025/
https://goodthingsaregonnacome.com/125-words-of-the-year-for-2025/
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/woty
https://time.com/7334730/word-of-the-year-2025-cambridge-collins-dictionary-oxford-merriam/
https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/calendar
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/word-year-tradition-reflection-empowerment-anna-msikc/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_the_year
https://www.allaboutai.com/ai-glossary/ai-slop/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/11/18/cambridge-dictionary-word-year-2025-parasocial-meaning/87332931007/
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/rage-bait-oxford-university-press-word-of-year-2025/6424446/
https://news.sky.com/story/oxford-dictionary-publisher-reveals-word-of-the-year-2025-do-you-know-it-13477780
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/oxford-university-press-names-its-2025-word-of-the-year-shouldn-t-that-be-2-words/ar-AA1RuKWO
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