Springfield, MA, Dec. 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today Merriam-Webster announced the 2025 Word of the Year: slop.
Slop is defined as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.”
Throughout 2025, lookup volume of slop on Merriam-Webster.com reflected a flood of slop into everyday life, including absurd videos, off-kilter advertising images, cheesy propaganda, fake news that looks pretty real… and lots of talking cats.
“All that stuff was dumped on our screens,” says Greg Barlow, President of Merriam-Webster, “and the Word of the Year captured it in just four letters. The English language came through again.”
In 2025, amid all the talk about AI threats, slop set a tone that’s less fearful, more mocking. According to Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster Editor at Large, “it’s almost like the word sends a little message to AI: when it comes to replacing human creativity, sometimes you don’t seem too superintelligent. “
Other words in Merriam-Webster’s lookup data revealed experiences and ideas that shaped the year:
- Gerrymander – As both political parties created odd-looking districts that evoke the “salamander” in this word’s origins.
- Performative – For a wide range of attention-getting behavior involving activism, patriotism, matcha, sensitive men, and more.
- Touch grass – Often used insultingly, but also as an aspiration for people wanting to break their digital addiction.
- Six seven – The hit Gen Alpha slang term of 2025. Meaning nothing in particular, and sometimes repeated in a sing-song voice, it tended to delight kids and frustrate almost everyone else (which is one reason it delighted kids).
- Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg – Encountered, for those who dared, in advanced modes of a hit spelling game on Roblox.
“In a world full of clutter and noise,” says Barlow, “it’s gratifying that people keep turning to our dictionary for accurate information, carefully researched and crafted by humans – the exact opposite of slop.”
Get more detail on all the 2025 Words of the Year
About Merriam-Webster Inc.
For over 180 years, Merriam-Webster has been America’s leading provider of language information. Each month, our award-winning websites, apps, and social media channels offer guidance to tens of millions of visitors. In print, our publications include Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary (among the best-selling books in American history) and books for students of all ages and abilities. All Merriam-Webster products and services are backed by the largest team of dictionary editors and writers in America.
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Meghan Lunghi Merriam-Webster Inc. mlunghi@m-w.com
