Every year, the internet waits to see which word captures the cultural moment, but 2025 delivered a term that perfectly sums up our hyper-online lives. While the internet flooded timelines with quirky guesses, from “Labubu” to “Skibidi,” Cambridge Dictionary settled on a word that reflects a deeper truth about how we connect today.
Meet the word of the year for 2025: Parasocial
Cambridge Dictionary crowned ‘Parasocial’ as the 2025 Word of the Year, defining it as a one-sided emotional bond someone forms with a public figure or personality they don’t actually know. The rise of fandoms, influencer culture, and even emotional attachments to AI bots pushed this term into mainstream conversation.
From Taylor Swift–Travis Kelce engagement reactions to users bonding with chatbots, parasocial connections shaped digital behaviour throughout the year.
Words people expected to win
Before the announcement, social media was buzzing with predictions. Netizens were convinced the crown would go to playful or trending words like "Delulu," "Skibidi," "Serendipity," "Aura," "Labubu," "Resilience," or even the mysterious "6-7." While catchy and viral, none managed to capture the cultural shift the way “parasocial” did.
Words that defined 2025
Even though they didn’t take home the title, several terms left a clear mark on our vocabulary in 2025:
Slop: Used to describe low-effort, low-quality online content, especially AI-generated posts that flooded feeds.
Pseudonymisation: A technical but essential term, referring to masking personal data to protect identities amid rising privacy concerns.
Memeify: The internet’s favourite pastime: turning absolutely anything into a meme within minutes.
These words shaped conversations, online culture, and the way we navigated digital spaces all year long.
