2025’s Words of the Year, So Far

by

With 2025 coming to an end, the experts at leading dictionaries are starting their yearly tradition of choosing a single word to best represent the spirit of the year – a process that often sparks debate.

Dictionary publishers each have their own reasons and methods for selecting a “word of the year.” Some analyze huge amounts of text, while others look at popular search terms. Regardless of how they choose, these words often capture the spirit of the times and become a popular topic in the news.

Here are some of the words of 2025 so far:

Cambridge Dictionary: parasocial

Since 2015, the Cambridge Dictionary has chosen a word of the year based on how often people look it up. This year, they chose “parasocial,” which describes the one-sided connection people feel with celebrities, fictional characters, or even AI – a feeling of connection despite not actually knowing them.

The idea of parasocial interaction was first described in 1956 by University of Chicago sociologists Donald Horton and Richard Wohl in their research paper, “Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction.” The term combines “social” with the prefix *para, which comes from Greek and means something that’s similar to, or runs alongside, real social connection, but isn’t the same thing.

According to Colin McIntosh, the editor-in-chief of Cambridge Dictionary, interest in the word ‘parasocial’ surged this year. This increase is based on data from both dictionary lookups and Google searches. Cambridge Dictionary specifically observed a significant spike in searches for the word on June 30th, coinciding with an incident where YouTuber IShowSpeed blocked a fan who claimed to be his biggest ‘parasocial’ connection.

The word’s journey from a term used in academic circles to everyday language on social media is quite fascinating,” McIntosh noted.

The dictionary announced that its 2025 Word of the Year reflects the growing trend of one-sided relationships with celebrities – like the intense public interest in Taylor Swift and her relationship with Travis Kelce. It also noted the increasing number of people forming connections, even romantic ones, with AI chatbots.

Collins Dictionary: vibe coding

I was so fascinated to see Collins Dictionary choose “vibe coding” as their word of the year! It’s this cool new thing where you basically tell a computer what kind of code you need, using everyday language, and AI does the work for you. It’s like, instead of writing all the code yourself, you just describe the ‘vibe’ you’re going for, and the machine builds it! It really shows how much the tech world is changing, and I think it’s a brilliant pick – it perfectly captures this shift towards more intuitive coding.

The term “vibe coding” was created by Andrej Karpathy, who helped found OpenAI and previously led AI efforts at Tesla. He recently explained it on X (formerly Twitter) as a coding style where you focus on the overall idea and let the computer generate the code itself, almost forgetting about the code’s details. This approach uses powerful language models to do most of the programming. While some see it as making coding more accessible, others worry it could lead to a lack of understanding of core coding principles and potential security problems.

According to Alex Beecroft, head of Collins, the selection “reflects how language is changing with advances in technology.”

Collins Dictionary also considered a few other tech terms, like “clanker”—an insult from Star Wars used to describe robots, computers, or AI—and “broligarchy,” which seems to describe the powerful, mostly male leaders in Silicon Valley and their possible impact on politics.

Dictionary.com: 67

Since 2010, Dictionary.com has chosen a “word of the year,” but for 2025, they made a surprising pick: the number 67. The online dictionary explained that after looking at lots of information – like news headlines, what’s trending on social media, and search data – searches for 67 (pronounced “six-seven,” not “sixty-seven”) increased sharply, more than six times over since June. They announced this in October.

The phrase originated with the 2024 song “Doot Doot (6 7)” by the rapper Skrilla. It quickly gained popularity as background music for videos on TikTok and Instagram. Many of these videos featured basketball player LaMelo Ball, who is about 6’7” tall, but the term was also used in videos with teens and younger children.

The true meaning of this year’s “word of the year” is hard to pin down. Dictionary.com explains it’s often used to mean “okay,” “so-so,” or to express uncertainty, and is frequently accompanied by a specific hand gesture – palms up, moving up and down. The dictionary also notes that some young people are using the word playfully to annoy older generations, responding to any question with it.

Dictionary.com described the number 67 as fundamentally undefinable, pointing out its meaninglessness and widespread, illogical presence. They jokingly suggested these qualities are ‘hallmarks of brainrot,’ highlighting its bizarre and pervasive nature.

Read More

2025-11-18 13:07