From “Rage Bait” to “Aura Farming,” Explaining Oxford’s Word of the Year and Its Finalists

Every year, the publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary announce their Word of the Year that encapsulates the year that was. Past years have included the words “brain rot” and “rizz” based on votes from language experts. Other winners like “podcast” and “emoji” have become part of our everyday lexicon. So what word did Oxford Word of the Year voters highlight for this year?

“Rage Bait” and the Finalists

The Oxford University Press, which publishes the dictionary, announced that its Word of the Year this year is “rage bait,” which it defines as a noun meaning: “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 account.”

Think of all those social media posts you see that make you want to respond with anger, and you’ll understand why rage bait is so enraging—and why Oxford liked it for its Word of the Year.

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“Rage bait” had competition from two other words that tried to hack their way to the top of the list.

Another word related to social media made the list of finalists for Oxford's Word of the Year. “Aura farming” is a noun that’s defined 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,” according to the Oxford University Press.

While aura farming doesn’t include social media in its definition, the Oxford University Press included an example of a social media influencer when announcing the word as a finalist on Instagram:

“Biohack” was also a finalist, defined as “an attempt to improve or optimize one's physical or mental performance, health or longevity” using means like diet, exercise, drugs, or even technological devices.

But Isn’t Rage Bait Two Words?

You may think that “rage bait” is cheating a bit since it's two words and not one, but Oxford University Press has an explanation. It defines the Word of the Year as a “singular word or expression,” so words like “rage bait” or “brain rot,”—the latter of which was 2024’s Word of the Year—still count.

In fact, three of the past six years have had two-word “words” to express what Oxford University Press considered the best word for that year.

The year 2020 was a big exception when the organization decided one word—or a two-word—Word of the Year was not enough to encapsulate such an unprecedented year that included the COVID-19 pandemic among other notable events.

“The English language, like all of us, has had to adapt rapidly and repeatedly this year,” explained the Oxford University Press at the time. “Given the phenomenal breadth of language change and development during 2020, Oxford Languages concluded that this is a year which cannot be neatly accommodated in one single word.”