The 2025 Oxford Word of the Year was officially rage bait.
After three days of online voting and more than 30,000 participants weighing in, Oxford University Press announced that “rage bait” took the top spot, beating out other shortlist favorites including “aura farming” and “biohack.”
Oxford defines rage bait as online content deliberately crafted to spark anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or outright offensive. The goal is simple: generate more clicks, comments, and engagement.If something on your feed has ever made your blood pressure spike, whether it meant to or not, there is a good chance you encountered a classic case of rage bait.
