If you’ve been online for more than 4 minutes in the past year, congratulations – you’ve definitely been rage baited.
You know, that moment when you’re peacefully scrolling and suddenly a post appears that makes you whisper, “Haibo, not today, Satan.”
Well, Oxford University Press has decided that this emotional rollercoaster is such a universal experience that “rage bait” deserves the crown as the Word of the Year for 2025.
Relatable? Too relatable.
According to BBC News, it beat out aura farming and biohack, because apparently the internet’s favourite pastime is being angry, not organised or healthy.
What exactly is rage bait?
In simple terms: It’s content created with the sole purpose of making you furious enough to comment, share and ruin your own day.
Examples include:
- Videos captioned: “Unpopular opinion: pineapple definitely belongs on pizza.”
- People cutting cake with the wrong side of the knife.
- That one influencer who says, “If you’re broke, it’s because you wake up after 04:00.”
It’s the digital version of someone poking you with a stick and asking, “Why you mad?”
Why does rage bait work so well?
Because the algorithm is basically a messy aunty at a braai who loves drama.
The more you react, the more she serves you:
“Here’s another post to annoy you.”
“Oh, you didn’t like that? Try this one.”
“Angry again? Yho, you’re fun!”
Your annoyance = their engagement = their money.
And you? You’re just trying to enjoy your sandwich.
Why did rage bait win?
Oxford Languages president Casper Grathwohl basically said: “We used to click because we were curious. Now we click because we’re outraged.”
In other words, the internet evolved from:
“What is this interesting thing?” to “What nonsense is this again?”
And honestly? Fair.
Other dictionaries also joined the party
Each dictionary chose their own flavour of chaos this year:
- Cambridge: parasocial – that one-sided celebrity crush you swear isn’t that deep.
- Collins: vibe coding – telling AI to build an app while you take a nap.
We are absolutely living in the “tell the robot to do it” era.
So what does this say about us?
Last year’s word was brain rot. This year’s is rage bait. At this rate, 2026’s winner will probably be log off please.
But hey – at least we can laugh about it.
Right after we stop arguing in the comment section …
