Oxford University Press has named “rage bait” as its word of the year for 2025, reflecting the growing prevalence of online content designed to provoke anger. The publisher’s analysis shows that use of the phrase has tripled in the past 12 months.
Rage bait is defined as “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 webpage or social media content”. Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, said the term’s existence demonstrates that people are increasingly aware of the “manipulation tactics” used to capture attention online.
Grathwohl noted a shift from content that sparks curiosity to content that hijacks emotions. He described rage bait as a natural progression in the conversation about humanity in a tech-driven world, and contrasted it with last year’s winner, “brain rot”, which captured the mental drain of endless scrolling. Together, he said, they form a cycle where outrage drives engagement, algorithms amplify it, and constant exposure leads to mental exhaustion.
Although recognised now, the term first appeared online in 2002 on Usenet, referring to a driver’s reaction to being flashed by another car. It later evolved into internet slang for viral tweets and critiques of content networks, platforms, creators and trends.
