What is 'rage bait'? Oxford University names it 2025 word of the year

Oxford's 2025 Word of the Year, 'rage bait', highlights the rise of provocative online content designed to trigger strong emotional reactions and fuel viral engagement

Scrolling through social media can be addictive, and sometimes infuriating. That is because many posts are designed to make you angry, frustrated or outraged, a tactic Oxford University Press has identified as this year’s Word of the Year: rage bait.

 

What is rage bait?

 

According to Oxford University Press, rage bait describes online content deliberately designed to provoke anger, frustration or outrage to increase engagement or traffic. A compound of rage (violent outburst of anger) and bait (an attractive morsel), the term has existed since 2002 but surged threefold in usage over the last 12 months.

 

In 2025, discussions around social unrest, online content regulation and digital well-being highlighted how rage bait reflects the manipulation of attention and online ethics.

 

 

Rage bait is closely related to clickbait but focuses specifically on evoking anger and polarisation. Social media algorithms reward provocative content, giving rise to rage farming, a strategy to sustain engagement and reactions over time, often using misinformation or conspiracy-based material.

 

“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,” said Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages.

 

What words did rage bait beat?

 

Oxford’s lexicographers shortlisted 'aura farming' and 'biohack' alongside 'rage bait' for 2025 due to their cultural relevance.

 

Aura farming: Refers to cultivating an impressive or charismatic persona to convey confidence, coolness or mystique. It reflects society’s growing focus on curating public image and personal vibe online.

 

Biohack: Means attempting to improve physical or mental performance, health, longevity or wellbeing through lifestyle changes, supplements, drugs or technology.

 

Both aura farming and biohack reflect emerging trends in GenZ vocabulary and deeper shifts in how people present themselves and shape their lifestyles. While aura farming has become widely popular on social media, where users and creators post “vibes” and moody photos, biohack taps into growing interest in self-optimisation, wellness and longevity: from diet and exercise changes to lifestyle tweaks or supplement use.

 

How is the Oxford Word of the Year selected?

 

Each year, Oxford University Press lexicographers analyse the English language, identify new or emerging words and examine shifts in established usage. Suggestions from colleagues and the public, combined with world events, inform the shortlist.

 

The 2025 shortlisted words, including aura farming, biohack and rage bait, were put to a public vote on Instagram. Experts then conducted final analysis of corpus data, votes and commentary to determine the Oxford Word of the Year.

 

What did other dictionaries choose as their 2025 words?

 

Cambridge Dictionary picked “parasocial” as its 2025 word of the year, describing it as the one-sided bond people feel with celebrities they have never met.

 

Collins Dictionary, meanwhile, chose “vibe coding”, the practice of building an app or website by simply describing it to an AI instead of writing code by hand.

 

What was the 2024 Oxford Word of the Year?

 

Oxford selected “brain rot” as its 2024 Word of the Year, a term used to describe a perceived decline in thinking ability brought on by consuming excessive amounts of trivial or low-quality online content. The phrase has become a catch-all for the mental fatigue associated with endless, mindless scrolling on social media.

 

Previous winners include selfie, goblin mode and rizz.