Terminology - WOTTIES 2025 'slop' the American Dialect Society Word of the Year

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

On January 9th 2026, The prestigious 137-year-old American Dialect Society (ADL) voted slop—prefix, suffix, and noun—as the 2025 Word of the Year (WOTY). The ADL defines slop as: 

*slop, n: low-quality, high-quantity content, most typically produced by generative AI; also as a combining form for anything lacking value produced in mass quantities.

In fact, the ADL actually promoted one of its 2024 contenders for Word of the Year to the WOTY in 2025.  Indeed, AI slop was already voted as a contender for the Society’s 2024 Computer Word of the Year. 

In 2025, the promotion of slop to the Word of the Year was explained by the quantum leap in artificial intelligence (AI) use, which in turn led to a concomitant increase in the production of AI-generated slop. An increase only paralleled by the grammatically diversified increase in the use of the term slop. 

For example ‘slop’ functionning as a prefix:

• slop economy - referring to the ecosystem of websites and social media accounts that churn out endless AI content to harvest advertising revenue.
• slop bot - automated accounts that churn out slop to manipulate search rankings.
• slop feeds - search engine results that have become saturated with low-value, repetitive AI outputs.
• slop content – filler media such as absurd videos or nonsensical AI-written articles.

For example ‘slop’ functioning as a suffix:

• AI-slop - content generated by LLMs that is considered repetitive or uninspired.
• brain-slop - content designed for mindless scrolling.
• engagement slop - posts created solely as bait to generate likes or comments.
• friendslop - low-cost, chaotic, indie cooperative gaming trend.

And ‘slop’ functioning as a noun, such as: slopification and slopper (someone overly reliant on generative AI). 

A new constellation of slop terms, orbiting around AI-generated slop, indicating that slop has definitely migrated from its 16th-century origins—referring to slushy mud—to the digital world.  Thus, a year’s worth of language use ended up being crowned by the term slop-—in all of its grammatical variations.

References
American Dialect Society (ADL) (website)
https://americandialect.org/ 
Zimmer, B. and Dr. K. E. Wright (Jan. 9, 2026). American Dialect Society selects ‘slop’ as 2025 Word of the Year. ADL 2025 WOTY Press Release. 
https://americandialect.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2025-Word-of-the-Year-PRESS-RELEASE.pdf

All the Words of the Year, 1990 to present.  American Dialect Society. 

https://americandialect.org/woty/all-of-the-words-of-the-year-1990-to-present/#2024

Terminology – WOTTIES 2025 – Cambridge Dictionary shortlisted Words of the Year.

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Cambridge Dictionary shortlisted and defined the following terms, all related to Artificial Intelligence, as competing entries for the Word of the Year 2025. 

"slop: content on the internet that is of very low quality, especially when it is created by artificial intelligence.  

pseudonymization: a process in which information that relates to a particular person, for example a name or email address, is changed to a number or name that has no meaning so that it is impossible to see who the information relates to.

memeify: to turn an event, image, person etc. into a meme (= an idea, joke, image, video, etc. that is spread very quickly on the internet.)"

Cambridge Dictionary also tracked the emergence of the following terms in  in 2025, providing the following definitions and usage examples:

"glazing is the excessive use of praise or flattery, especially by AI chatbots, in a way that seems insincere and artificial.    

Example: When the chatbot’s responses lean too far into glazing, it immediately sounds my alarm bells.    

 bias is the object of a fan’s stanning, or excessive devotion to a singer, band or other media star. It is used especially by fans of the South Korean music genre K-pop.    

Example: My bias is V from BTS – he has the best outfits!    

 vibey describes a place that has a good vibe.    

Example: The place is vibey, has a great buzz, and is perfect for people watching.    

doom spending is the activity of spending money that you cannot afford in order to make yourself feel better. People sometimes engage in it when they feel anxious and uncertain about the future.    

Example: Although doom spending may provide short-term emotional relief, it can also have a long-term impact on your financial stability."

More than 6000 words were added to the Cambridge Dictionary in 2025.  Among these new words:

"delulu: a play on the word delusional, means ‘believing things that are not real or true, usually because you choose to’. 

Example:  In March 2025, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used the Gen-Z phrase “delulu with no solulu” in a speech in parliament.

tradwife: short for traditional wife – ‘a married woman, especially one who posts on social media, who stays at home doing cooking, cleaning, etc. and has children that she takes care of’ – reflects a growing, controversial Instagram and TikTok trend that embraces traditional gender roles.

Example: Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farm has been dubbed the queen of tradwifery. 

snackable, used to describe content that you can read or play in small amounts or for a short time, reflects our ever-shrinking attention spans. 

mouse jiggler, a device or piece of software used to make it seem as though you are working when you are not. 

forever chemical, refers to ‘artificial chemicals that are used to make many different products, that stay in the environment for a long time and are harmful to the health of people and animals’."

Reference

'Parasocial' is Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year.

https://www.cambridge.org/news-and-insights/parasocial-is-cambridge-dictionary-word-of-the-year-2025  

Terminology – WOTTIES 2025 – Cambridge Dictionary “parasocial” Word of the Year

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Cambridge Dictionary selected the term parasocial as Word of the Year (WOTY) 2025. In a nutshell,  parasocial refers to a one-way relationship with a celebrity, an influencer, or even with a non-human entity such as a ChatBot. A person or entity that one has never met, but with whom a strong sense of connection nonetheless exists.

Cambridge Dictionary defines the term 'parasocial' as: 

"involving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves or a famous person they do not know, a character in a film, book, TV series etc., or an Artificial Intelligence." 

Simone Schnalle, Professor of Experimental Social Psychology at Cambridge University, explains why the term parasocial is the perfect WOTY for 2025, and most importantly, why people form parasocial relationships. 

Reference
'Parasocial' is Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year. 
https://www.cambridge.org/news-and-insights/parasocial-is-cambridge-dictionary-word-of-the-year-2025

Terminology – WOTTIES 2025 – Macquarie Dictionary shortlisted Words of the Year

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Terms competing for the Word of the Year are always at least as interesting as the winner of them all. The Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English shortlisted the following terms competing for the Word of the Year 2025. Supporting Macquarie Dictionary definitions and graphics are also included. 

ate (and left no crumbs) – To perform or execute something flawlessly. 

© Macquarie Dictionary

Australian sushi – Any of various thick, uncut sushi rolls with the nori wrapped around the filling in order to be eaten by hand. 

© Macquarie Dictionary

BAL rating – A system of assessing a building’s potential exposure to ember attack, radiant heat, and direct flame of a bush fire. 

© Macquarie Dictionary

bathroom camping – The act of isolating oneself in a bathroom or bathroom cubicle for a period of time, to seek solitude, avoid work, or regulate emotions. 

© Macquarie Dictionary

bird-dogging – The act of confronting a politician at a public event with direct questions or issues, aiming to bring attention to a special issue.

© Macquarie Dictionary

blind box – A type of mystery box which contains an unseen collectible toy or figurine.  

© Macquarie Dictionary

femgore – A subgenre of horror in which female protagonists are given agency over the narrative, and while still victimized, objectified or exploited to an extent, are not passive. 

© Macquarie Dictionary

Ozempic face – A condition resulting from the use of a semaglutide drug, characterized by the wrinkling and sagging of the face due to rapid weight loss. 

© Macquarie Dictionary

quadball – The new name for a real-life quidditch, where the aim is to score by putting a ball through any of three vertical hoops at the end of the field.

© Macquarie Dictionary

Roman Empire – Any of various events, interests, subjects, etc., that one finds themselves frequently thinking about, especially one considered unusual. 

© Macquarie Dictionary

Six-Seven – A nonsense expression in which each hand is held out to the side with palms facing up, alternatively moving each up and down as if comparing weights. Also 6,7.

© Macquarie Dictionary

References
Macquarie Dictionary
https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/?time=1765148169657 
The Macquarie Dictionary Committee (Nov. 24, 2025). Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year for 2025.
https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/macquarie-dictionary-word-of-the-year-for-2025/