Oxford Dictionary Selects “Rage Bait” as Word of the Year 2025

Announced by the Oxford Dictionary on December 1, 2025, “rage bait” is the Word of the Year. The word is defined as: “Online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted to increase traffic or engagement.”

Why It Was Chosen

• Continues Oxford’s trend of selecting digital-culture-related words, following “brain rot” (2024).
• While brain rot describes a state of mental exhaustion caused by consuming endless low-quality online content…
• Rage bait is intentional and targeted, crafted specifically to provoke emotional reactions for engagement, clicks, or virality.

Forms of Rage Baiting

• Controversial social media posts written in a polarising tone.
• Videos that exaggerate, sensationalise, or intentionally omit nuance.
• Content that fuels division, outrage, or heated debates to drive traffic.

Why It Matters

• Highlights modern concerns about algorithm-driven engagement, the polarisation of online discourse, and the manipulative design of certain digital content.

Source: IE