Summary:
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Oxford University Press names “rage bait” 2025 Word of the Year due to engineered outrage dominance.
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Rage bait sparks instant frustration online, replacing curiosity with emotional manipulation in digital engagement.
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Algorithms thrive on outrage, amplifying it for user engagement, creating a vicious cycle of mental exhaustion.
Oxford University Press has officially named “rage bait” its 2025 Word of the Year, sealing the phrase into the internet’s vocabulary after a year dominated by engineered outrage. The announcement follows a public vote and a sharp spike in usage, according to reporting from the BBC.
The term describes posts built to spark frustration on sight, the kind that catch you mid-scroll and irritate you before you even realize why. Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, told the BBC that online engagement has drifted away from curiosity and toward emotional manipulation, a shift that shaped much of this year’s digital landscape.
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Rage bait isn’t new, but 2025 turned it into a full-time job for the algorithm. It sits in the same family as clickbait, except it skips the tease and aims straight for an emotional reaction. The model is simple: spark anger, watch engagement spike.
Oxford’s shortlist included “aura farming” and “biohack,” but rage bait dominated the vote — likely because users recognized their own feeds in the definition.
Last year’s winner, “brain rot,” captured the foggy burnout of endless scrolling. Oxford says this year’s pick completes the cycle: outrage drives engagement, algorithms amplify it, and mental exhaustion follows. It’s a feedback loop most users know way too well.
Cambridge Dictionary went with “parasocial,” pointing to the wave of fan-celebrity attachment online — something seen in the intense fascination surrounding Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Collins leaned toward the tech world, choosing “vibe coding,” describing the growing trend of building apps by describing them to AI instead of writing the code manually.
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The word of the year isn’t just a vocabulary update. It’s a mirror.
“Rage bait” suggests the internet’s emotional thermostat is running hot, and users know it. It points to a year where engagement was often built on frustration, and the most viral posts were the ones that made people mad enough to respond.
