Slop: The four-letter word that is a war cry against low-quality content

“Slop” has just been announced as Merriam-Webster’s 2025 Word of the Year as AI-generated content floods the internet and invades our vocabulary. In fact, “AI slop” is a succinct definition of the current state of the internet. 

In a year dominated by the booming artificial intelligence (AI) industry and an overwhelming flood of digital creations, Merriam-Webster has crowned “slop” its 2025 Word of the Year. This four-letter word is a compelling verdict on the sprawling glut of low-quality content now clogging screens and social media feeds everywhere. 

Originally used in the 1700s to refer to soft mud and in the 1800s to describe food waste or rubbish, “slop” now takes on a decidedly 21st-century twist. Merriam-Webster defines it as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity, sometimes by means of artificial intelligence.” 

Think ridiculous, badly made videos, glitched-out ads, fake news that almost fools you, crappy AI-authored books and, yes, talking animals. All that is slop. Even luxury brands like Valentino and Versace are known to be pushing out slop ads. So, slop is here, and here to stay. 

“Like slime, sludge and muck, slop has the wet sound of something you don’t want to touch,” Merriam-Webster quipped in its announcement, capturing a widespread cultural mood that’s part bemusement, part exasperation with today’s worsening AI landscape.

 

2025 has been by and large a year defined by the AI content deluge. Tech platforms, both large and small, have grappled with the surge of generative AI content in 2025, from deepfakes to clickbait-style creations that prioritise volume over value. The wave of AI slop reflects not just how easy it has become to generate content at scale, but also how little of it often resonates meaningfully with human audiences. Which is where the quality debate kicks in — there is also the near flawless, top quality AI creative that exists, and will be created and sold at premium. Merriam-Webster’s editors say the word “slop” stands out because it captures both a cultural trend and a collective sentiment — one that’s less about fear of technology and more about poking fun at how mindlessly content can spread.

 

Other words that shaped 2025? While slop snagged the top spot, Merriam-Webster also highlighted other terms that defined this year's discourse, including: 67, a viral slang term born on social media, delighting Gen Alpha with an inside-joke energy. Performative, used to call out behaviour done for show or clout rather than substance. Touch grass, a phrase urging people to disconnect from digital obsession and reconnect with the real world. Gerrymander and tariff, words driven by political and economic headlines.

 

These picks show the breadth of public interest in 2025, ranging from internet culture to politics to how we live with technology.  Let’s also look at a larger global linguistic snapshot of the past year. Merriam-Webster isn’t the only publication weighing in on the year’s language. Other linguistic authorities, too, have chosen their own 2025 Words of the Year. Oxford University Press chose “rage bait”, highlighting content designed to spark outrage and engagement online. Macquarie Dictionary in Australia spotlighted “AI slop”, which is similar to Merriam-Webster’s theme of digital clutter. Cambridge Dictionary picked “parasocial”, focusing on one-sided relationships with online personalities and AI chatbots. Dictionary.com embraced the slang term “67”, a viral and almost meaningless expression that captured a slice of youth culture. Together, these choices mirror a generation negotiating fatigue, fascination and frustration with the digital world.

 

One could well ask, why does it all matter? For a tech-savvy audience, slop isn’t just a funny word; it’s a symptom of deeper trends in AI deployment, content moderation and cultural perception. As tools for automatic generation become increasingly common and easier to use, the signal-to-noise ratio in digital spaces will only become more pronounced and important. Whether you’re building apps, curating feeds or trying to avoid the next wave of meaningless memes, the 2025 Word of the Year is a reminder that quality still counts and sometimes language itself can call that out with perfect clarity.

 

Slop is a red-flag for managers in organisations charged with handling digital content and social media. Most of them put a premium on cost over quality, and covet quantity over goodness. What most brands are therefore putting out is pure slop — and there is hardly anyone in their own ecosystem who dares tell them that. Mindless reels. Poorly produced videos. Third-rate statics. And every day the proud proclamation, “I got it made so cheap!”. Well, no wonder it looks cheap too.

 

In 2026, stop the slop. 

The author is  chairman of Rediffusion