'Rage bait' named Oxford Word of the Year 2025

Key facts

• 'Rage bait' was named Oxford word of the year 2025 by Oxford University Press.
• 'Rage bait' beat aura farming and biohack to win the title.
• Rage bait is defined as online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive.
• Aura farming is the cultivation of an impressive, attractive, or charismatic persona or public image.
• Biohack is to attempt to improve one's physical or mental performance by altering one's diet, exercise routine, or lifestyle.
• Previous Oxford words of the year include goblin mode, brain rot, selfie and rizz.
• Brain rot was last year's word of the year.
• Cambridge Dictionary declared parasocial its word of 2025.
• Collins Dictionary went for vibe coding.