‘Rage Bait’ named word of the year by UK’s Oxford University Press

‘Rage bait’ – online content engineered to provoke – beat out ‘aura farming’ and ‘biohack’ to win the prize, underscoring 2025’s digital division

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Oxford University Press selects the word of the year by analysing new words and changes in language usage to identify those of cultural significance. Photo: TNS

Published: 6:45pm, 1 Dec 2025Updated: 6:59pm, 1 Dec 2025

Oxford University Press has named “rage bait’’ as its word of the year, capturing the internet zeitgeist of 2025.

The phrase refers to online content that is “deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative or offensive,” with the aim of driving traffic to a particular social media account, Oxford said in a statement.

“The person producing it will bask in the millions, quite often, of comments and shares and even likes sometimes,’’ lexicographer Susie Dent told the BBC.

This is a result of the algorithms used by social media companies, “because although we love fluffy cats, we’ll appreciate that we tend to engage more with negative content and content that really provokes us”.

A woman angrily gestures at her laptop, highlighting the negativity of social media, where “rage bait” has become widespread. Photo: Shutterstock

Rage bait topped two other contenders – “aura farming’’ and “biohack’’ – after public comment on a shortlist compiled by lexicographers at Oxford University Press.

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