According to the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, the use of the term has tripled in the last 12 months
Are you increasingly feeling irritated while browsing social media? If so, you may be falling victim to rage bait – the term that Oxford University Press has named as the word or expression of the year 2025.
According to the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, the use of the term has tripled in the last 12 months. It describes manipulative online tactics that aim to provoke a large number of users’ attention through strong negative reactions.
Even if you haven’t heard of the term, if you use social media, you’ve probably come across such content. Oxford University Press defines it as online posts that are deliberately designed to provoke anger or outrage by being provocative or offensive.
Like the familiar “clickbait,” which uses misleading headlines to attract attention, rage bait focuses specifically on making the user angry. The goal is usually to increase traffic to a site or profile.
The term “rage bait” beat out two other finalists:
– Aura farming – the creation of an impressive or mysterious public image through behaviour that subtly conveys confidence, charisma or mystique.
– Biohack – an attempt to improve one’s physical or mental state through changes in diet, exercise, lifestyle or through medication, supplements and technology.
The winner was chosen after a public vote, the results of which guided the final decision of the language experts at OUP.
“The fact that the word rage bait exists and that its use has grown so dramatically shows that we are increasingly aware of the manipulation we are subjected to online,” said Oxford Languages president Casper Gratwall.
Gratwall described the trend as “a natural step in the conversation about what it means to be human in a technologically driven world”.
Last year’s word of the year – brain rot – reflected the mental exhaustion of aimless scrolling on Instagram and TikTok. According to Gratwall, the two consecutive words chosen outline a cycle: “Outrage breeds engagement, algorithms amplify it, and constant exposure leaves us mentally exhausted.”
In previous years, words such as selfie, goblin mode, and rizz have won the title.
Cambridge Dictionary has chosen parasocial as its word of the year 2025 – a one-sided emotional connection that a person feels for a celebrity with whom they have never interacted. An example is the interest of fans in the relationship and engagement of Taylor Swift and American football player Travis Kelce.
Collins Dictionary has named vibe coding – the practice of creating applications or websites by describing them to artificial intelligence, rather than by manual programming – as its word of the year.
Illustrative Photo by Sergey Guk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/historic-oxford-college-building-with-garden-path-28448938/
We acknowledge The European Times for the information.
