The words rage bait, aura farming, and bio hack, were all in the running for Oxford’s 2025 Word of the Year. Rage bait took first place. 

Rage bait is a term often used to describe an individual making another individual feel angry; or “rage” out. On most social media platforms, mainly Tik Tok, you can see ragebait in different forms. Most commonly, it can stem from comments on a post, typically going against someone’s opinion on purpose.

Now you’re probably wondering, what’s the difference between rage baiting, and having a different opinion? If I had a different opinion than someone when it came to onions being the best vegetable. I would simply state my reasoning behind my claim. If I wanted to ragebait someone, I could respond to them by saying; “Every other vegetable sucks, and onions are on top of the food chain, if you disagree then you’re wrong!”

So you could say ragebaiting is the action of actively disagreeing or finding a way to make another person look like they’re in the “wrong”. 

Rage baiting doesn’t only happen through texts. A trend that has taken over various social platforms has been “rage baiting my partner”. By asking your significant other a question like, “Do you love me because I’m pretty or do you think I’m pretty because you love me?” places them into a lose-lose situation where the person asking will always try to be the victim. A softer form of psychological abuse. 

Many wonder what next year’s word will be. But for now, rage bait takes the cake.