Technologies

Oxford’s New Word of the Year? It’s Designed to Bait, Debate and Irritate

Firstly, it’s not just one word. It’s also an unpleasant aspect of our digital life today.

In a move reflecting the darker side of the social-media era, Oxford University Press has named «rage bait» as its 2025 Word of the Year. (It’s actually two words, but don’t let that send you into a rage.) The phrase refers to online content deliberately designed to provoke anger or outrage by being provocative, offensive or otherwise manipulative, with the explicit aim of boosting engagement, clicks or shares.

According to Oxford University Press, usage of rage bait has roughly tripled over the past year. In announcing the choice, the organization noted that this surge isn’t just a change in vocabulary. It points to a larger shift in how online platforms and content creators capture attention, often by exploiting emotional triggers rather than curiosity or honest interest.

Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, said that this trend marks a progression from earlier waves of click-driven sensationalism toward a more emotionally manipulative digital environment — one where outrage, not intrigue, is the currency that pays.
«Rage bait shines a light on the content purposefully engineered to spark outrage and drive clicks,» Grathwohl said. «And together, they form a powerful cycle where outrage sparks engagement, algorithms amplify it, and constant exposure leaves us mentally exhausted. These words don’t just define trends; they reveal how digital platforms are reshaping our thinking and behaviour.»

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2025’s other big words include ‘parasocial’ and ’67’

Rage bait isn’t the only word or phrase gaining recognition this year. Two other major dictionaries have picked their own Words of the Year, each illuminating a different facet of our cultural moment.

The Cambridge Dictionary named «parasocial» as its 2025 Word of the Year, capturing the growing phenomenon of one-sided relationships people form with celebrities, influencers, fictional characters — and now, increasingly, with AI personalities. The word reflects how many of us now treat virtual or distant figures as if they were friends, despite knowing that the connection is unreciprocated.
Dictionary.com selected «67» as its Word of the Year. Pronounced «six-seven,» this term is a slang expression that’s playful, ambiguous and rooted in meme culture. While 67 might not carry a dictionary-style definition, its rise points to how younger generations express attitudes of indifference, irony or insider-like humor in the digital age.

A quick look back at some past Words of the Year

To understand what 2025’s picks reveal about our time, it helps to glance at some past winners, which show how language shifts in response to social moods, technology and world events.

In 2024, Oxford’s Word of the Year was «brain rot,» a phrase meant to capture the mental fatigue, dissatisfaction, or dulling sensation people feel after endless scrolling through trivial or low-quality online content.
2023’s winner was «rizz,» a slang term for charisma or personal charm.
In 2022, the winning phrase was «goblin mode,» reflecting a mood of laziness, self-indulgence, or rejecting social expectations — especially as the world grappled with pandemic aftershocks.

Earlier years show a variety of themes. 2019’s climate emergency stood out as concern over global warming surged. In 2016, «post-truth» became the word, capturing a time of political upheaval, misinformation and shifting trust in facts.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #1008

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 15, No. 1,008

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough, but the yellow category has some fun options in it. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Mine, all mine!

Green group hint: A part you might use to build something.

Blue group hint: Blended words.

Purple group hint: Not a cow, but close.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Greedily control.

Green group: Toothed wheels.

Blue group: Portmanteaux.

Purple group: Bull ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is greedily control. The four answers are bogart, corner, hog and monopolize.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is toothed wheels. The four answers are cog, gear, pinion and sprocket.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is portmanteaux. The four answers are blog, motel, smog and spork.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is bull ____. The four answers are dog, doze, frog and horn.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #742

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 15, No. 742.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is fun and timely, relating to a certain big ceremony held this weekend. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Best of all

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: The envelope, please.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

RATE, RATED, DATE, DOTE, DATED, DOTED, GATE, GATES, TROD, TRODS

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: