rage bait

The Oxford University Press has selected "rage bait" as its word of the year, in a nod to how easily digital indignation can be manipulated to create engagement in online content.

The phrase was chosen after more than 30,000 people voted online from Nov. 24 to Nov. 27 for one of three finalists, which also included "aura farming" and "biohack."

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 traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media account."


Dilara Irem Sancar/Anadolu via Getty Images - PHOTO: In this photo illustration, "Oxford Word of the Year 2025" is displayed on a mobile phone screen next to the word "rage bait."
Dilara Irem Sancar/Anadolu via Getty Images - PHOTO: In this photo illustration, "Oxford Word of the Year 2025" is displayed on a mobile phone screen next to the word "rage bait."
The term first appeared in 2002 on the site Usenet "as a way to designate a particular type of driver reaction to being flashed at by another driver requesting to pass them, introducing the idea of deliberate agitation," according to Monday's announcement. "Since then, it has become shorthand for content designed to elicit anger by being frustrating, offensive, or deliberately divisive in nature.