The Cambridge word of the year 2025 is 'parasocial.' It captures online reality.

As the Cambridge Dictionary explained, Parasocial is the Word of the Year 2025. The year saw an interest in one-sided parasocial relationships that humans develop with celebrities, influencers, and AI chatbots.

For 2025, Cambridge Dictionary has chosen "parasocial" as the Word of the Year. The one-way emotional connections of the audience to public personalities such as celebrities, influencers, and even AI chatbots defined much of the global conversation.

Unrequited Love Relationships That Define the Year

The rise of long, confessional podcasts deepened these bonds. Listeners described the hosts as "friends", though the connection flowed only one way.

Some artists, like Lily Allen, put parasocial interest into their albums, while streamers like IShowSpeed called out obsessive fan behavior directly.

It soon went beyond human interactions. Many started treating AI chatbots as a confidant.

Tools like ChatGPT were approached for comfort, emotional reassurance, and companionship-a pattern that psychologists say carries risks, particularly for younger users.

A Concept Tracing Back to 1956

The term "parasocial" is not new; it was coined by sociologists Donald Horton and Richard Wohl in 1956 to identify the way television viewers developed intimate relationships with on-screen personalities.

As actors came right into people's homes by way of television, audiences began thinking of them almost like family or close relatives.

Why Cambridge chose 'parasocial'

Colin McIntosh, at Cambridge Dictionary, said that the word "captures the 2025 zeitgeist." The year's spikes in searches reflected growing curiosity.

The technological and cultural changes brought what had been an academic term into everyday speech.

Some of those connections are harmless, she said. Others become intense and unhealthy. The Language That Grew Around It In 2025, Cambridge Dictionary added more than 6,000 new words-many linked to online culture and AI. Words like "slop", "skibidi", "delulu", and "tradwife" have been included in the dictionary, as well as such newer entries as "glazing", "bias", "vibey", "breathwork", and "doom spending". According to editors, new words show how fast the language is changing and how deeply digital life is shaping the way people think and speak nowadays.