Oxford, UK - "Rage bait," the slang term describing online content designed to elicit anger and drive engagement, has been crowned 2025 word of the year, Oxford University Press announced Monday.

It said the term – chosen through a combination of public voting, sentiment and analysis of OUP's "lexical data" – had "captured our emotions" this year.

Casper Grathwohl, president of OUP's languages division, said the growing use of such words "reveal how digital platforms are reshaping our thinking and behavior."

"It feels like the natural progression in an ongoing conversation about what it means to be human in a tech-driven world – and the extremes of online culture," he added in a statement.

Oxford defines "rage bait" as "online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive, typically posted" in order to increase web traffic or engagement.

It beat out fellow shortlisted contenders "aura farming" and "biohack."

The former was described as "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."

Meanwhile, biohacking is an 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."

More than 30,000 people worldwide voted over three days for their preferred winner, according to OUP.

Its final choice was also supported by evidence of "real language usage", after its experts tracked the use of the shortlisted words throughout the year via "a 30-billion-word corpus of global language data."

Last year's pick was "brain rot," which describes a "loss of intelligence or critical thinking skills... as attributed to the overconsumption of unchallenging or inane content or material."