2025 Word of the Year: Oxford follows Cambridge

London Letter

Cambridge’s choice reflects a global hunger for connection. Oxford’s reflects the fatigue of constant provocation. Between them lies the emotional landscape of our time

By Shyam Bhatia

Oxford University Press has followed Cambridge Dictionary’s lead by releasing its own linguistic snapshot of the year. Just weeks after Cambridge named “parasocial” as its 2025 Word of the Year — referring to the one-sided emotional bonds people develop with influencers, live streamers and even AI chatbots — Oxford has chosen a very different term: “rage bait,” the label for online content crafted to make users erupt in anger.

Cambridge Dictionary has crowned ‘parasocial’ as its Word of the Year 2025. Pic – ELT NEWS

Oxford Languages says use of the phrase has tripled over the past year, a sign of how outrage has become a dependable digital currency.

Oxford defines rage bait as material that is “frustrating, provocative or offensive,” circulated to drive traffic to websites or social-media accounts. Anyone who spends time online has encountered it: discussion threads derailed by a single incendiary post, videos cut to inflame tempers, or opinions shaped not to inform but to annoy. A headline stripped of context, a remark edited for maximum irritation — the formula is now familiar.

Algorithms reward whatever produces the biggest emotional jolt, meaning irritation often travels farther and faster than information. The internet, once driven by curiosity, now increasingly thrives on provocation.

Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, sees this as part of a wider shift. “Before, the internet was focused on grabbing our attention by sparking curiosity in exchange for clicks,” he said. “But now we’ve seen a dramatic shift to it hijacking and influencing our emotions, and how we respond.” He describes this as “a natural progression” in a society shaped by powerful technologies and a “cycle” where anger produces engagement, engagement boosts inflammatory posts, and users eventually feel drained.

The two other shortlisted terms — “aura farming”, meaning the careful cultivation of a cool or enigmatic online image, and “biohack”, the trend of using diets, supplements or devices to improve one’s performance — highlight the pressures of self-presentation and optimisation that have coloured digital life in 2025.

The contrast with Cambridge’s selection, “parasocial”, is revealing. Cambridge defined that word as a one-sided emotional relationship that a fan might feel toward someone they have never met — a phenomenon magnified by the explosion of content creators, podcasters and AI-generated personalities. Psychologists note that these relationships can comfort or inspire, but they also blur the line between public performance and private intimacy.

Seen together, “parasocial” and “rage bait” map two opposing emotional currents shaping life online. One works by simulating closeness: the YouTuber confiding their insecurities, the podcaster who feels like a weekly companion, the AI assistant offering personalised reassurance. The other works by provocation: videos engineered to stir political anger, sarcastic posts designed to derail debate, or opinions intended solely to unsettle. Comfort and conflict — the two dominant strategies for capturing attention.

Mauritius offers clear illustrations of both trends.

Local influencers such as lifestyle vloggers, food reviewers and TikTok entertainers command intensely loyal followings. Many Mauritian creators — whether sharing recipes, beauty tips, Rodrigues travel guides or sega remixes — cultivate deeply familiar parasocial bonds. Their audiences speak of them almost as extended family: the “didi” who shares daily routines, the “bhai” demonstrating home workouts, the teacher-figure giving revision advice to Form V and VI students.

At the same time, Mauritian social media has become increasingly vulnerable to rage-bait dynamics, especially around politics and community issues. Edited clips of National Assembly debates often circulate without context, drawing hundreds of heated comments within hours. Posts about fuel prices, Metro Express delays, or school admissions frequently go viral in ways that reward anger over accuracy. During recent Rodrigues and election campaigns, a single provocative video — sometimes anonymous, sometimes AI-generated — was enough to steer online discussion for days. Much of this content is amplified by recommendation algorithms rather than by any organised campaign.

What makes 2025 noteworthy is the growing public awareness of these emotional manipulations. That two major dictionaries have chosen words describing different forms of digital influence suggests a widening recognition of how deeply technology shapes our emotional lives. Oxford’s earlier winners — “selfie”, “goblin mode”, “rizz” — captured passing moods. But the pairing of “parasocial” and “rage bait” points to something more structural: the psychological wiring of online experience.

Whether these words endure is uncertain. But the behaviours they describe seem here to stay. Outrage is quick, cheap and instantly shareable; simulated intimacy is comforting and easily automated. Both are profitable in an economy driven by clicks and engagement spikes.

As the year draws to a close, Cambridge’s choice reflects a global hunger for connection. Oxford’s reflects the fatigue of constant provocation. Between them lies the emotional landscape of our time — a world of imagined bonds and manufactured conflicts, including in small island societies like Mauritius.

London, December 2, 2025

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 5 December 2025