Rage bait named 2025 Oxford word of the year after brain rot

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Oxford University Press has chosen ‘Rage Bait’ as its word of the year for 2025, surpassing ‘Aura Farming’ as the top pick.

As each year comes to a close, various awards are presented in many different fields. Recently, the selection of ‘words of the year’ has gained popularity online, reflecting how quickly new internet slang and terms become part of our daily conversations.

As 2023 ended, the Cambridge Dictionary chose “parasocial” as its word of the year, and Dictionary.com selected “67.” The popularity of “parasocial” was linked to online personality IShowSpeed, while “67” gained traction due to growing frustration with the term “brainrot.”

“Rage bait” wasn’t the only online phrase considered for Word of the Year; it was actually chosen by Oxford University Press as their word of the year.

Rage bait wins word of the year over aura forming

According to Oxford University Press, 2025 saw a surge in deliberately provocative online content – often called ‘rage bait’ – reflecting a growing change in how we think about attention, online interaction, and ethical considerations. Their experts observed this trend amidst widespread social issues, discussions about online rules, and increasing worries about digital wellbeing.

The growing popularity of the term “rage bait” shows we’re becoming more conscious of how people try to provoke strong emotional reactions online.

Oxford University Press reports that the use of “rage bait” – deliberately provocative content designed to enrage – has tripled in the past year, even though the term was first coined back in 2002.

In 2024, the publication chose “brain rot” as its word of the year, continuing a recent trend of selecting two-word phrases for the honor.

According to Oxford, the Word of the Year can be a single word or a phrase that their language experts consider a unified idea.

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2025-12-01 18:19