While Dictionary.com already picked “67″ as its word of the year, the preeminent experts on language have chosen a different path.

Oxford has chosen “rage bait” as the word of 2025.

Rage bait‘s definition is “(n.) 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.”

More than 30,000 people voted on this year’s word selection.

Oxford said the use of “rage bait” has increased threefold over the past year, according to the company’s data.

"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," Oxford said.

While rage bait is technically two words, the word of the year is used as “a single unit of meaning.”

Oxford Languages president, Casper Grathwohl, said, “The fact that the word rage bait exists and has seen such a dramatic surge in usage means we’re increasingly aware of the manipulation tactics we can be drawn into online. Before, the internet was focused on grabbing our attention by sparking curiosity in exchange for clicks, but now we’ve seen a dramatic shift to it hijacking and influencing our emotions, and how we respond. It feels like the natural progression in an ongoing conversation about what it means to be human in a tech-driven world—and the extremes of online culture.

“Where last year’s choice, brain rot, captured the mental drain of endless scrolling, rage bait shines a light on the content purposefully engineered to spark outrage and drive clicks. And together, they form a powerful cycle where outrage sparks engagement, algorithms amplify it, and constant exposure leaves us mentally exhausted. These words don’t just define trends; they reveal how digital platforms are reshaping our thinking and behaviour.”

There were two other words on the short list that rage bait beat to be crowned the 2025 word of the year.

Aura farming is a noun, which is “the cultivation of an impressive, attractive, or charismatic persona or public image by behaving or presenting oneself in a way intended subtly to convey an air of confidence, coolness, or mystique.”

Oxford said the use has been growing since 2023 and peaked in July.

Biohack was the other word that was on the ballot. It is a verb which means “to attempt to improve or optimize one’s physical or mental performance, health, longevity, or wellbeing by altering one’s diet, exercise routine, or lifestyle, or by using other means such as drugs, supplements, or technological devices.”

Usage of the term has doubled in the past year.

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