Newsletters
Oxford University Press (OUP) has selected “rage bait” as its 2025 Word of the Year, announced December 1, the winning expression refers to online content intentionally crafted to provoke anger, outrage or frustration, often with the goal of increasing clicks, engagement or visibility.
OUP noted that usage of the term has surged throughout the year, mirroring growing public concern over manipulative digital communication tactics.
The choice was determined through a combination of public voting, sentiment analysis, and linguistic data drawn from OUP’s 30-billion-word corpus. More than 30,000 people worldwide participated in the vote, marking the fourth consecutive year in which the public played a role in shaping the final selection.
Casper Grathwohl, president of OUP’s languages division, said the prominence of “rage bait” reflects the evolving social impact of digital platforms. He noted that the term “captures a significant aspect of our online behavior in 2025,” adding that it speaks to “the extremes of online culture” and the ways technology continues to shape human interaction.
The shortlist also included “aura farming” the cultivation of a charismatic or confident public persona designed to project an appealing image and “biohack,” a term describing efforts to enhance physical or mental performance through changes in lifestyle, supplements, or technology.
OUP’s annual Word of the Year aims to spotlight expressions that embody the cultural mood of the moment. Recent winners include “rizz” in 2023 and “brain rot” in 2024, while earlier choices have featured “vax,” “climate emergency,” and “selfie,” each reflecting major social trends of their respective years.
1 min read
