Rage bait named 2025 Oxford word of the year after brain rot

Rage Bait has been named the Oxford University Press’ word of the year for 2025, beating out Aura Farming to the title.

Every year, when the calendar starts heading towards the new year, annual awards are given out across a variety of categories. The words of the year have become increasingly of interest to the internet as a wide range of online terms have started entering everyday use. 

With 2025 coming to a close, we’ve seen parasocial named the word of the year by the Cambridge Dictionary, while 67 won the nod from Dictionary.com. IShowSpeed was credited with the success behind parasocial, while 67’s win came from a “drastic rise” in frustration because of the “brainrot” term. 

They aren’t the only online terms to get the 2025 word of the year treatment either, as rage bait has been crowned as the Oxford University Press’ word of the year.

Rage bait wins word of the year over aura forming

“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,” the Oxford University Press 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.”

The Oxford University Press also noted that rage bait’s usage has “tripled” over the last year, despite being first used back in 2002. 

Oxford University Press

Back in 2024, the same outlet named brain rot as its word of the year, which caps consecutive years of a term that is two words rather than one. 

“The Oxford Word of the Year can be a singular word or expression, which our lexicographers think of as a single unit of meaning,” they explained.