The Oxford English Dictionary has selected Rage Bait as its Word of the Year for 2025. The OED defines it 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 web page or social media content.” The dictionary notes that the use of rage bait has evolved this year to signal a deeper shift in how we talk about attention – both how it is given and how it is sought after – as well as engagement and ethics online. The word has tripled in usage over the past 12 months.
Rage bait was first used online in a 2002 Usenet posting to describe a particular type of driver reaction when flashed by another driver requesting to pass, introducing the idea of deliberate agitation. The term eventually evolved into internet slang used to describe viral tweets, often employed to critique the larger networks of content that shape what appears online – platforms, creators, and trends. Personally, I prefer the original phrase: being an asshole.
The Haus of Dcaligari 