Words of the Year (2020-2025)

It’s impossible to describe an entire year with just a single word, but the major dictionaries try anyway. 

While it can’t capture all of the complexity a year had in store, the right word can be emblematic of a year’s social phenomena, newly established terminology, and shared cultural experiences over those 365 days. 

The graphic below visualizes the words of the year of five major dictionaries from 2020 to 2025, with the dictionaries’ sites (Dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster, Collins, Oxford, and Cambridge) being the source of the data.

Strictly, for lovers of the English language. More so, lovers of words.

We can see how 2020 was defined by the pandemic, with pandemic, quarantine, and lockdown all chosen that year (while Oxford University Press didn’t choose a word that year). 

While 2021’s words feature vaccine, vax, and perseverance, non-pandemic words and trends like NFT and allyship were part of the mix. 

2023 brought AI-related words like hallucinate and AI into the mix, as it was ChatGPT’s first full year after launching in November of 2022. 

In 2025, we’ve seen evolutions of more specific AI-related jargon like slop (sloppy or low-quality AI-made digital content) and vibe coding, which defines AI-driven software development through prompts rather than writing out the code oneself. 

2025’s other words of the year like parasocial and rage bait define growing cultural trends and behaviors of an increasingly online world, while 6-7 remains a largely incomprehensible meme – ubiquitous among younger generations despite having no clear or widely agreed-upon meaning. 

Yesterday, Rangers decisively beat Celtic 3-1 at Parkhead in the first Old Firm clash of 2026. 

On the evidence of the first half, Celtic should have won the match comfortably. Yang Hyun-jun's 19th minute finish was superb, arrowing straight into the corner from a tight angle as the home side went for the jugular. And chance after chance came their way but the green-and-whites failed to extend that lead. 

And in the second half, they were properly punished. Once the blue shirts who weren't even at their best, started to fight back, they hit Celtic with three blows in twenty-one minutes (50, 59, 71). 

Both sides are now level on points in the Scottish Premiership table with Celtic narrowly ahead in second place on goals scored. 

Wilfried Nancy's record of six defeats from eight leaves Celtic in crisis. He is clearly failing at the club. This is a cold, hard fact. No matter what he says about seeing improvements, the fans certainly don’t. 

After the derby defeat, Nancy had the cheek to say the loss was not about players and tactics. But "moments", if you can even understand what he meant. 😆😆😆

Sad to say, the soft progress achieved under Martin O'Neill has been sacrificed on the altar of "process" and some self-regarding notion that Nancy is a visionary who's building a footballing monument. His days are numbered, you have to think.