Every December, dictionaries around the world reveal their Words of the Year — the terms that shaped how we talked, messaged, searched, and just generally made sense of the world around us.

In 2025, the words that made the cut are about as absurd as they come. Selections span everything from our relationship with AI, to glorified viral nonsense (yep, we're talking about 67). And combined, they paint a picture of a year shaped by the internet’s evolving language and the ways we navigate life both on- and offline.

Here’s a look at every Word of the Year, according to various dictionaries.

Oxford word of the year: Rage bait

If you’ve spent the year being lured into outrage by a headline, video, or image that feels deliberately engineered to ruin your mood congratulations — you’ve been rage baited. Oxford’s pick reflects the rise of content designed to provoke and polarise. In other words: the internet’s favourite thing.

Macquarie Dictionary word of the year: AI slop

Slightly more abstract, but still oh-so apt, Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary chose a term that only could have been coined in 2025. “AI slop” describes generative-AI output that feels lazy, soulless, or just wrong. If you fell for that video of rabbits on a trampoline, you've been a victim of AI slop.

Cambridge Dictionary word of the year: Parasocial

Cambridge went with a word that’s been quietly simmering for years: “parasocial.” Originally an academic term, it now broadly describes the one-sided relationships we form with creators, celebrities, and influencers. It’s the perfect descriptor for an era where you know your favourite YouTuber’s morning routine, or the intimate details of a TikToker's breakup, but they don’t know you exist.

Collins Dictionary word of the year: Vibe coding

Collins selected “vibe coding,” a term that sums up a distinctly 2025 way of communicating. It describes the act of signalling your mood – or vibe – through subtle choices, like an outfit, a playlist, a caption, even the way you arrange your space — instead of saying it directly.

Dictionary.com word of the year: 67

Honestly, we still don't know what this means, but Dictionary.com went rogue this year with “67,” a number that took on new meaning in 2025. While its specific meaning is context-dependent (and somewhat up for debate) — originally emerging from TikTok — the choice reflects how language has evolved beyond letters entirely.