'Rage bait' named Oxford Word of the Year 2025

The Oxford Word of the Year 2025 has been announced as "rage bait," the Oxford University Press confirmed on Monday.

The term was selected from a shortlist that included "aura farming" and "biohack," after three days of public voting in which more than 30,000 people participated. Final selection factored in public votes, commentary sentiment, and linguistic analysis.

According to Oxford Languages, rage bait is defined as "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 content". Usage of the term has tripled in the past year, driven by a news environment marked by social unrest and online divisiveness.

The expression first appeared online in 2002 on Usenet, referring to deliberately provoking driver responses. It later evolved as internet slang used to describe viral posts and became a common term within newsrooms, content creator circles, and political discourse. As social media algorithms increasingly reward provocative content, the practice expanded into rage-farming, a coordinated approach to fuel anger and engagement through misinformation and polarising narratives.

Speaking about the announcement, Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages, as per a press release, said the rise of the term mirrors a shift in how digital content targets not just attention but emotional response. Calling the phrase evidence of a "dramatic shift," he said, "As technology and artificial intelligence become ever more embedded into our daily lives, from deepfake celebrities and AI-generated influencers to virtual companions and dating platforms, there's no denying that 2025 has been a year defined by questions around who we truly are; both online and offline."

"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," Casper Grathwohl added.