Take a deep breath: “rage bait” is Oxford University Press’s 2025 Word of the Year. After three days of online voting by more than 30,000 participants, OUP announced that “rage bait” beat shortlist rivals “aura farming” and “biohack.”
Oxford defines “rage bait” as online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, usually posted to increase traffic or engagement. Content that produces a charged, negative emotional reaction—whether intentional or not—falls into the category.
Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages at OUP, notes that before “rage bait” entered English around 2002, the internet mainly sought attention by sparking curiosity for clicks. Now, he says, there’s a dramatic shift toward hijacking and influencing emotions and responses.
The term rose in prominence recently after actress Jennifer Lawrence revealed she keeps a secret TikTok account she uses to “get in fights” with strangers online. Oxford calls rage bait “the internet’s most effective hook,” used to stimulate the human tendency toward anger.
OUP framed 2025 as a year defined by humanity’s transformation in a tech-driven world, pointing to deepfake celebrities, AI-generated influencers, and virtual companions as examples of technology seeping into our minds and emotions. That raises the question: can you be “rage baited” by ChatGPT, or can the chatbot itself be rage bait? Oxford’s experts also note a spike in usage driven by general social unrest and growing concerns about digital wellbeing.
In its shortlist brief, Oxford says this increase reflects a media trend that rewards rage bait with engagement.
For the past few years OUP has used social media to gather public opinion on its shortlist. This year the press ran an Instagram campaign personifying the three shortlisted words. “Rage bait” was portrayed as an anonymous figure wearing a lizard-like mask with the intentionally misspelled blurb, “I’m glad your mad!” “Biohack” appeared as a robotic, green-juice–drinking woman asking, “have you ever tried to edit your lifespan?” — a portrayal played by London-based actor and model Brenda Finn that nods to the surge in anti-aging regimens and cosmetic procedures. “Aura farming,” defined as cultivating an impressive, attractive, or charismatic public image, appeared as a stylish influencer whose whimsical “to-do list” included banning fluorescent lighting and teaching people to ride a bike without hands.
Is it any surprise that last year’s Word of the Year was “brainrot”?