English
Viral news: Gen Z has its own way of using different words and slangs in unimaginable ways. The words long forgotten or hardly used now hold the potential to get popular, all thanks to the generation of Zoomers, i.e., Gen Z. In one such viral news, Oxford University Press has announced the Word of the Year 2025. Out of the three shortlisted words – aura farming, biohack, and rage bait – it has selected rage bait as the Oxford Word of the Year 2025. Here we take you through the meaning of ‘rage bait’ along with everything you should know about it.
The Oxford word of the year 2025 is ‘rage bait’. The Oxford University Press conducted voting between November 24 and November 27 between three words. The meaning of ‘rage bait’, as per the Oxford University Press, is “online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted in order to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media content.”
CONFIRMED: @OxUniPress has announced its shortlist for the Oxford Word of the Year 2025:
– Aura Farming
– Biohack
– Rage BaitVoting runs from 24th to 27th November, with the winning word announced on 1st December.#OxfordWOTY pic.twitter.com/hVqbkGRltj
— University of Oxford (@UniofOxford) November 24, 2025
The Oxford University Press had shortlisted three words, named ‘aura farming’, ‘biohack’, and ‘rage bait’. ‘Aura farming’ refers to the “cultivation of an impressive, attractive, or charismatic persona or public image by behaving or presenting oneself in a way intended subtly to convey an air of confidence, coolness, or mystique”, as per the Oxford University Press.
On the other hand, the meaning of ‘biohack’ refers “to attempt to improve or optimize one’s physical or mental performance, health, longevity, or wellbeing by altering one’s diet, exercise routine, or lifestyle, or by using other means such as drugs, supplements, or technological devices.”
After the voting between three words for three days, the Oxford University Press declared ‘rage bait’ as the word of the year 2025 on December 1, and it collected over 30,000 votes.
CONFIRMED: Oxford University Press has named ‘rage bait’ as the Oxford Word of the Year 2025.#OxfordWOTY pic.twitter.com/JATZPd9oxh
— University of Oxford (@UniofOxford) December 1, 2025
The President of Oxford Languages, Casper Grathwohl, said, “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.”
The Oxford word of the year 2024 is ‘brain rot’, and of the year 2023 is ‘rizz’, which are both Gen Z-orientated words.
For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Read more on Latest Viral News on India.com.
