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CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY
Cambridge Dictionary, whose tagline is "Where Your World Grows," announced "Parasocial" as its 2025 word of the year: involving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know, a character in a book, film, TV series, etc., or an artificial intelligence. The adjective was chosen because, according to the dictionary's website, "As social media intensifies the intimacy that fans feel with their adored celebrities, and with the rise in popularity of AI companions that can take on personalities, the word for these one-way relationships – parasocial – is having its own moment. Colin McIntosh, Cambridge Dictionary Chief Editor, explained, "Parasocial stood out in 2025 for several reasons. Public interest in the term increased massively this year, as we can see from our data: the number of searches for it in the Cambridge Dictionary as well as on Google spiked on several occasions. It’s interesting from a language point of view because it has made the transition from an academic term to one used by ordinary people in their social media posts. And it also captures the zeitgeist of 2025, as the public’s fascination with celebrities and their lifestyles continues to reach new heights."
COLLINS DICTIONARY
Collins Dictionary announced "Vibe Coding" as its 2025 word (term) of the year. According to CNN, "As Collins' definition states, vibe coding is the use of artificial intelligence prompted by natural language to assist with the writing of computer code. Basically, telling a machine what you want rather than painstakingly coding it yourself."
DICTIONARY.COM
Dictionary.com announced "6 7" (pronounced "six-seven" and NEVER "sixty-seven) as its 2025 word (term) of the year. According to Dictionary.com, "The annual pick serves as a linguistic time capsule, reflecting social trends and global events that defined the year. The term's exact origin is a bit unclear. Teachers and parents began hearing kids and teenagers use the term over the course of the year, and some say it can be interpreted as another way of saying "so-so," "maybe this," or "maybe that." Some have linked the term to NBA player LaMelo Ball, who is 6 feet, 7 inches tall."
According to the New York Post, "Despite the accolade, the phrase has no real meaning. And some teachers have even had to ban the phrase from their classrooms after their kids have relentlessly chanted 'Six-seven! Six-seven!'"
And get this story...according to ABC7 News, "In-N-Out kicked the number 67 out of its order system because of the viral 6-7 trend. The fast food chain said kids and teenagers would wait around just to hear it called, and then jump into unruly 6-7 celebrations. Employees confirmed the number hasn't been used for orders for about a month. Now, the order system jumps from 66 straight to 68."
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Oxford University Press announced "rage bait" as its 2025 word (term) of the year and provided this definition, "Online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted in order to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media account. With 2025’s news cycle dominated by social unrest, debates about the regulation of online content, and concerns over digital wellbeing, our experts noticed that the use of rage bait this year has evolved to signal a deeper shift in how we talk about attention — both how it is given and how it is sought after — engagement, and ethics online."
MACQUARIE DICTIONARY
The Macquarie Dictionary, known as an arbiter of Australian English, chose "AI slop" as its word (term) of the year for 2025, a colloquial noun defined as "low-quality content created by generative AI, often containing errors, and not requested by the user." According to the dictionary's announcement, "We understand now in 2025 what we mean by slop — AI generated slop, which lacks meaningful content or use. While in recent years, we’ve learnt to become search engineers to find meaningful information, we now need to become prompt engineers in order to wade through the AI slop. Slop in this sense will be a robust addition to English for years to come. The question is, are the people ingesting and regurgitating this content soon to be called AI sloppers?"
MERRIAM-WEBSTER
Announced on December 15th, Merriam-Webster's editors chose "slop" as its 2025 word of the year and defined the word as "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence. All that stuff dumped on our screens, captured in just four letters: the English language came through again. The flood of slop in 2025 included absurd videos, off-kilter advertising images, cheesy propaganda, fake news that looks pretty real, junky AI-written books, "workslop" reports that waste coworkers' time...and lots of talking cats. People found it annoying, and people ate it up. Like slime, sludge, and muck, slop has the wet sound of something you don’t want to touch. Slop oozes into everything. The original sense of the word, in the 1700's, was "soft mud." In the 1800's, it came to mean "food waste," and then more generally, "rubbish" or "a product of little or no value." In 2025, amid all the talk about AI threats, slop set a tone that's less fearful, more mocking. The word sends a little message to AI: when it comes to replacing human creativity, sometimes you don't seem too super-intelligent."
FIVE WORDS THAT STOOD OUT DURING 2025 ACCORDING TO MERRIAM-WEBSTER
GERRYMANDER: "Throughout 2025, when Republicans and Democrats used redistricting to increase their electoral advantages, gerrymander became a popular search term.To gerrymander is to divide a state, school district, etc. into political units or election districts that give one group or political party an unfair advantage. The word comes from the name of Elbridge Gerry, an American politician in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Gerry was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and vice president under James Madison, and as governor of Massachusetts he tried to change the shape of voting districts to help members of his political party get elected. His system resulted in some highly irregular and oddly shaped districts, including one (Gerry’s home district) that looked a little like a newt. Upon seeing a map of the bizarre regional divisions, a member of the opposing party drew feet, wings, and a head on Gerry’s district and said “That will do for a salamander!” Another member called out “Gerrymander!” And the term stuck."
TOUCH GRASS: "The idiomatic phrase touch grass means "to participate in normal activities in the real world especially as opposed to online experiences and interactions." The phrase is often aimed at people who spend so much time online that they become disconnected from reality."
PERFORMATIVE: "In the age of social media, when all the world's a cellphone-sized stage, the steep rise in lookups of performative resulted not from any particular news item, but instead from the pervasiveness of what it describes. Performative means made or done for show (as to bolster one's own image or make a positive impression on others)."
TARIFF: "Tariff refers to “a schedule of duties imposed by a government on imported or in some countries exported goods. The word entered English centuries ago, via Italian, and originally came from the Arabic word meaning notification."
CONCLAVE: "This word spiked in lookups after the death of Pope Francis in April, when Roman Catholic cardinals from around the world gathered at the Vatican to elect a successor. This meeting, called a conclave, is how new popes have been selected since the 13th century. The word conclave comes from the Latin conclave meaning “room that can be locked up.” It originally referred specifically to the locked room where the cardinals nominate, debate, and vote in secret."
And also during 2025, Merriam-Webster added over 5,000 words to its Collegiate Dictionary, the first major print revision in 22 years, showing a commitment to keeping the dictionary current with language changes. Greg Barlow, President of Merriam-Webster, explained, "Our website receives over a billion visits per year. But people still love books. In fact, we continue to sell over a million dictionaries a year – and the new Twelfth Edition is the finest Collegiate we've ever published. For those who enjoy books and dictionaries, it will be a volume to cherish...This beautiful red dictionary may not be the biggest part of our business, but in many ways, it's the heart."
Here were key additions:
Cancel Culture: The practice of withdrawing support for public figures after they have done something considered objectionable.
Dad Bod: A physique regarded as typical of an average father, especially one that is slightly overweight.
Doomscroll: To continue scrolling through bad news on social media despite the anxiety it causes.
Dumbphone: A basic mobile phone with limited functionality, often used to reduce screen time.
Farm-to-Table: Locally-sourced food.
Ghost Kitchen: A professional food preparation facility set up only for delivery-only meals.
Petrichor: The pleasant smell after rain.
Rizz: Slang for charisma or the ability to attract a romantic partner.
Teraflop: A unit of computing speed equal to one trillion floating-point operations per second.
WFH: The abbreviation for work from home.
CREATOR INDUSTRY VOCABULARY
According to The Wrap, "The creator industry (also known as the creator ecosystem or the creator economy) is lacking a consistent vocabulary. The words "creator" and "influencer" often get confused. Creators are more focused on creating content, while influencers are more focused on building audiences."
MOST SEARCHED TERMS ON GOOGLE
According to Exploding Topics, "Google receives over 100 billion visits per month. Here are the top five searches in the United States during 2025: YouTube, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Weather."
LINKEDIN: LATEST HOT JOB = STORYTELLER
According to LinkedIn, the percentage of job postings in the United States with the term "storyteller" doubled during 2025 to include some 50,000 listings under "marketing" and more than 20,000 listings under "media and communications."
According to The Wall Street Journal, "Corporate America's latest hot job is also one of the oldest in history: storyteller...Compliance tech firm Vanta began hiring for a head of storytelling, offering a salary of up to $274,000. Productivity app Notion recently merged its communications, social media, and influencer functions into one 10-person "storytelling" team. And military financial services company USAA is hiring its fourth staff storyteller less than a year since it hired its first."
Jennifer Kuperman, Chime's chief corporate affairs officer, said, "Terms like "editorial" are limiting. They put in mind a very specific thing you're doing or creating. Whereas you could tell stories in so many different ways."
GLASSDOOR
Glassdoor did not announce a word of the year for 2025, but instead, its 2026 Worklife Trends Report highlighted several key themes and buzzwords from employee reviews, with a prominent focus on "disconnect," "distrust," and the "forever layoff." The report uses these words to describe the growing gap between employees and senior leadership - and collectively capture a prevailing mood of uncertainty, skepticism, and strained workplace relationships expected in 2026.
Key terms and trends identified in the 2026 report included:
(1) "Disconnect" / "Misalignment": Mentions of "misalignment" in reviews surged by 149 percent, while "disconnect" rose 24 percent and "distrust" climbed 26 percent. These terms point to a significant erosion of trust in leadership.
(2) "Forever layoff": This phrase describes the new normal of small, ongoing "mini-layoffs" that create constant anxiety and job insecurity for workers, even if they don't make major headlines.
(3) "Slow-mo RTO" (Return to Office): While formal mandates are not always enforced, a subtle pressure exists, as remote/hybrid workers experience declining ratings for career opportunities compared to in-office counterparts.
(4) "AI anxiety": Though the direct impact on job satisfaction is currently limited, the psychological effect of potential AI-driven disruption is notable, particularly among early-career workers.
Here were other words and terms that stood out during 2025:
FREAKQUEL: A portmanteau (a single word created by blending parts of two or more words, combining their sounds and meanings) combining freaky and sequel. In August, the movie "Freakier Friday" arrived in theaters and was a much-anticipated sequel to the movie "Freaky Friday" that starred Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis in 2003.
TWISTED TRADWIFE FICTION: According to Author Jo Piazza, "I think these stories resonate right now because they tap into the dark side of nostalgia. The soft, serene surface hides something insidious underneath. We're living through a moment where traditional gender roles are being rebranded as empowerment, and that tension is fascinating, and very scary. Thriller readers are smart. They know when they're being sold a lie. They want to dig into it. This genre lets us do that."
DISTRACTION: According to an opinion piece on CNN.com, political reporter Ron Brownstein wrote that "One word captures the most important division among Democrats." He wrote that the word was "distraction" because every time President Trump does something that causes people to shake their heads, it causes a distraction. Case in point, how can legislators in Congress focus on important issues, when each day, Trump makes a crazy statement, for example, eliminating mail-in ballots? However, according to Celinda Lake, a veteran Democratic pollster, "Describing Trump's actions as a "distraction" is absolutely wrong. I think it misses completely where Democrats are at." And back to Brownstein, "The conflict over the word "distraction," is, of course, a proxy for the much larger debate over which messages Democrats should emphasize as they work to rebuild the party's tattered image and shape their campaigns for 2026."
TREATONOMICS: "Treatonomics" (also referred to as "little treat culture") describes our current era of economic uncertainty. The trend has taken off with consumers, according to NBC News, who are buying a small treat that's easier to afford, rather than a large purchase such as furniture or a car. Studies show that these pick-me-ups can cause our brains to release "happy hormones" such as dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins.
SANGRY: A portmanteau (a single word created by blending parts of two or more words, combining their sounds and meanings) of sad plus angry to describe a particular mood.
DELULU: Delulu is a slang term for "delusional," meaning someone who holds false beliefs or unrealistic expectations, particularly in areas like romance or celebrity fandom, but can also be applied to other areas like careers or finances. The term has gained popularity, especially with Gen Z, and is sometimes used in a more positive or humorous context. Some influencers use the phrase "delulu is the solulu," which suggests that self-confidence and a positive mindset can be the solution to problems, similar to the "fake it till you make it" idea.
COOLCATIONS: Since the United Kingdom experienced a heatwave during June with temperatures soaring above 30 degrees Celcius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), British travelers sought cooler destinations with searches for Nordic countries and Southern Hemisphere winter breaks. The trend became known as coolcations.
SHRINKFLATION: a portmanteau (a single word created by blending parts of two or more words, combining their sounds and meanings) combining shrinking plus inflation.
SNEAKFLATION: CNN reported that, "Retailers and major brands know that many Americans live paycheck to paycheck, so they're using "sneakflation" to pass along Trump's tariffs in small increments in hopes that consumers won't notice or will be able to better absorb it." According to Google, "Sneakflation is the practice by companies of subtly reducing the value of a product or service without raising its price, in order to pass on increased costs to consumers. This is done by reducing quantity, downgrading quality, adding hidden fees, or decreasing features, rather than explicitly increasing the price tag on an identical item."
BOREOUT: Unlike burnout, boreout can slip under the radar. According to Midtraining, "Boreout is a state of chronic boredom at work that leaves employees feeling disengaged, underused, amd disconnected from their role. Over time, they may begin to question the purpose of their job, lose confidence, or detach from the team entirely. If left unaddressed, boreout can increase employee turnover and lead to rising rates of depression across a team."
GLOBAL OBSCURANTISM: This term is about the power of knowledge and who controls its flow and accessibility in the world. It refers to the deliberate action or policy of preventing the dissemination of knowledge or deliberate practice of making information vague and difficult to understand on a global scale.
STEREOTYPE REACTANCE: This is a phenomenon when people hear a negative stereotype about their group and want to prove it wrong. According to Wharton PhD student Sophia Pink, "The idea is a bit like telling someone not to press a red button. Once you know you're not supposed to do it, you want to do it more. In this case, being told that people like you fail to compete makes you want to do just the opposite and defy the stereotype."
SUMMERWEEN: According to GMA, "Calling all ghouls: Summerween is back for 2025, and the trend is even more popular than last year! The fun Halloween-meets-summer trend started in 2024, and this year, stores jumped on Summerween early. On July 25th, Michaels launched "Dead Regency," an assortment of darkly enchanting pieces featuring nods to Edgar Allen Poe, Victor Frankenstein, and ornate, crystal-draped candelabras that would work equally well for Halloween or a year-round eerie atmosphere."
KIDULTING: CNN reported, "Build-A-Bear Workshop, the nearly 30-year-old toy brand, is having a breakout moment, eclipsing some of Wall Street’s biggest winners by targeting customers across a broad age range. The toy company’s revenue grew 11 percent in the second quarter to a record $124.2 million, and it even raised full-year guidance – all while mitigating the cost of tariffs. That’s a stark contrast to years of unprofitability before 2012. Investors have taken notice. In the last year alone, Build-A-Bear’s stock is up 76 percent. Build-A-Bear broadened its customer base beyond kids and capitalized on customer trends that emerged after the pandemic, focusing on experiences and tapping into what Sharon Price John, the company’s CEO, calls the nostalgia economy." She explained, "'Kidulting (is) adults wanting to be kids, and they’re buying things that they loved when they were kids. So we leaned into that with really interesting licenses that played on their memory."
SHARENTING: According to IDX, "Sharenting consists of posting photos, videos, or stories about your kids on social media. Before you post, consider that this information could be used by bad actors for harassment, identity theft, and more...Bad actors could use these personal details to track down your child’s location, commit identity theft, or attempt to hack into your accounts. Your kids could also be subjected to cyberbullying or harassment."
GENES VERSUS JEANS: The AP reported, "U.S. fashion retailer American Eagle Outfitters wanted to make a splash with its new advertising campaign starring 27-year-old actress Sydney Sweeney. Titled "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans," the campaign sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards, and the backlash to "woke" American politics and culture. Most of the negative reception focused on videos that used the word "genes" instead of "jeans" when discussing the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress known for her two HBO series. Some critics saw the wordplay as a nod, either unintentional or deliberate, to eugenics, a discredited theory that held humanity could be improved through selective breeding for certain traits...Eugenics gained popularity in early 20th century America, and Nazi Germany embraced it to carry out Adolf Hitler's plan for an Aryan master race." Marcus Collins, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, said, "The criticism could have been avoided if the ads showed models of various races making the "genes" pun. You can either say this was ignorance, laziness, or intentional. Either one of the three isn't good."
A final note, American Eagle defended the ad on Instagram in an attempt to stop the criticism: "[The] Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans" [campaign] is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We'll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone."
SIGNAGE AND HISTORY/HERSTORY: The 19th reported that, "Under pressure from the Trump administration, the National Park Service (NPS) removed historical context from signage that explained the role women played in the creation of the Muir Woods National Monument and highlighted the racist ideologies of some of the men associated with the site. A ranger for the monument confirmed that the information removed in mid-July originated from an initiative by NPS officials called "History Under Construction" that filled in gaps in the timeline of the park to offer a more comprehensive history of the monument in Marin County, California, which is known for its old-growth redwood trees." Alan Spears, senior director of cultural resources at the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit that advocates for the park system, said, "President Trump's executive order could jeopardize the Park Service's mission to protect and interpret American history. Every American who cares about our country's history should be worried about what people, places, and themes disappear next."
PAINSTORMING
A new term appeared according to Psychology Today, "Painstorming" refers to a leadership practice of diagnosing organizational "pain" to drive meaningful change, rather than simply "brainstorming" possible solutions. It views friction as valuable feedback, helping leaders ask, "How do we make change work for people?" instead of "How do we make people change?"
Ahron Friedberg, M.D., explained, "Most leaders excel at brainstorming: generating ideas for innovation. But few are skilled at painstorming, or the ability to surface frustration, friction, and fatigue. Painstorming is the practice of identifying the emotional and structural pain points associated with change. It reframes discomfort as diagnostic data. Resistance, when examined through painstorming, often exposes misaligned priorities between executives, managers, and teams. Addressing these fractures early restores alignment and prevents burnout. Painstorming is important because it closes the gap between leaders' perceptions and the reality on the ground by surfacing hidden problems; and it builds trust so that leaders who acknowledge and address pain can build deeper connection with their teams."
META QUOTE
And let's not forget the language snafu from January, as reported by Fortune, Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg was quoted as saying, "I think masculine energy is good, and obviously society has plenty of that, but I think that corporate culture was really trying to get away from it. It's like you want feminine energy, you want masculine energy. I think that that's all good. But I do think the corporate culture sort of had swung toward being this somewhat more neutered thing. If you're a woman going into a company, it probably feels like it's too masculine. You want women to be able to succeed and have companies that can unlock all the value from having great people no matter what their background or gender."
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WORD/PHRASE REMOVAL LAWSUIT
On a final linguistic note, NPR reported in December that, "Some Head Start early childhood programs are being told by the federal government to remove a list of nearly 200 words and phrases from their funding applications or they could be denied. That's according to recently submitted court documents. The list of words and phrases is titled: "Words to limit or avoid in government documents." and includes "accessible," "belong," "Black," "disability," "female," "minority," "trauma," "tribal" and "women." The list was submitted on December 5th, as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by Head Start programs in a handful of states – including Pennsylvania, Washington, Wisconsin and Illinois – against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration's ban on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in federal programs conflicts with Head Start's statutory mandate. That mandate includes, among other things, providing "linguistically and culturally appropriate" services as well as early intervention services for children with disabilities."
Jacqueline Rodriguez of the National Center for Learning Disabilities said, "Banning the word 'disability' from Head Start is morally repugnant and a violation of federal law. No administration can claim to support children with disabilities while banning the very word that protects them."
As the famous writer Joseph Conrad wrote, "My task which I am trying to achieve is by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel - it is, before all, to make you see. That — and no more, and it is everything."
What words and terms will define 2026? We'll have to wait and see, but until next January's recap, I invite you to browse through your dictionary to learn new words!
Image Credit: Engoo.
Read in Forbes: Is Social Media the New Google for Gen Z?
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/social-media-new-google/
Read Glassdoor's Worklife Trends Report for 2026:
https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/worklife-trends-2026/
Read here on my blog: Best Social Media Post of the Month of November 2025:
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2025/12/best-social-media-post-of-month-of.html
See the full list of nearly 200 words and phrases included in the Head Start lawsuit:
https://www.npr.org/2025/12/11/nx-s1-5640757/head-start-hhs-funding-dei
Read about Painstorming on Psychology Today:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/listen-and-build/202510/how-painstorming-helps-leaders-drive-change
