<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>You know that feeling when you read something online and it seems deliberately provocative, almost manufactured to create outrage? You may have just encountered "rage bait" – content deliberately designed to elicit anger in order to increase engagement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And it has become so ubiquitous online that the Oxford Dictionary has named "rage bait" as its Word of the Year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Use of the term has increased threefold this year, suggesting people know "they are being drawn ever more quickly into polarising debates and arguments as a response to social media algorithms and the addictive nature of outrage content" the UK-based dictionary said in a statement on Monday.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/worrying-number-of-australian-businesses-paying-ransoms-to-cybercriminals/0878b922-ffaa-4216-bab1-91c04d9061fc"><strong><span>Shocking truth as companies forced to reveal ransoms they've paid</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Almost every major dictionary has named a word that relates to the Internet as their 2025 word of the year, highlighting the technology's grip on daily life and the language we use to describe it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sometimes, rage bait can be relatively harmless – a recipe that contains disgusting food combinations or someone annoying their pet, partner or sibling. But it has also entered political discourse, with outrage used to boost politicians' profiles and provoke a chain of reaction and counter-reaction.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Collins Dictionary chose "vibe coding", a form of software development that uses artificial intelligence to turn natural language into computer code, and the </span><a href="https://press.nine.com.au/item/02e336df-e1e7-4df2-9867-423ce9f181be" rel="" target="" title='Cambridge Dictionary settled on "parasocial"'><span>Cambridge Dictionary settled on "parasocial"</span></a><span> referencing the relationships people form online with someone they don't know, as their words of the year.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/oxford-dictionary-word-of-the-year-2025-is-rage-bait/f0e789c6-7b57-4c57-830c-4c78ac5452be" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Last year Oxford chose "brain rot", which "captured the mental drain of endless scrolling", Oxford Languages president Casper Grathwohl said in a statement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/victoria-accused-from-high-profile-family-denies-raping-woman/701be1cb-3f9b-4abd-b9ca-0b3994479daf"><strong><span>Man from high-profile family denies rape</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Together, they form a powerful cycle where outrage sparks engagement, algorithms amplify it, and constant exposure leaves us mentally exhausted," Grathwohl said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These words don't just define trends; they reveal how digital platforms are reshaping are thinking and behaviour."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Oxford Dictionary let the public choose its word of the year from a shortlist that also included "aura farming" and "biohack", posting parody videos on its </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/oxunipress/" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><span>Instagram</span></a><span> to convey the spirit of each word.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Aura farming, "the cultivation of an impressive, attractive, or charismatic persona … by presenting oneself in a way intended subtly to convey an air of confidence, coolness or mystique," was portrayed as a cardigan-wearing, tote bag-carrying man, "always one matcha away from finishing (an) experimental screenplay".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/teen-falls-from-car-mornington-peninsula-st-andrews-beach-victoria/dac7dfc3-67d4-44d9-87c3-85993abaccfc" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>Teen charged after schoolies celebrations go horribly wrong</span></strong></a></div></div><div><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="7" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5), 0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px auto;max-width:440px;padding:0;width:99.375%"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRcD1hHChUv/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp"></a></blockquote></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And biohack, "an attempt … to optimise one's … 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," was visualised as someone hooked up to a green IV drip and wearing an LED face mask, who had taken "27 phytonutrient-dense plants" by 6.34am.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rage bait, meanwhile, slopped milk and sugar everywhere while he made a cup of tea, before picking his toenails and pouring the milk over himself.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em></em><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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