Merriam-Webster has selected 'slop' as its 2025 Word of the Year, reflecting the surge of low-quality AI-generated content flooding the internet. The term describes digital output produced in quantity by artificial intelligence, capturing a cultural frustration with online clutter. This choice highlights a year dominated by generative AI's impact on media and discourse.
On December 15, 2025, Merriam-Webster announced 'slop' as its Word of the Year, a term that has gained traction amid the proliferation of AI-driven digital content. Originally referring to soft mud in the 1700s and food waste or rubbish in the 1800s, 'slop' now specifically denotes 'digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence,' according to the dictionary's editors.
Examples abound in 2025's online landscape, including ridiculous videos, glitched advertisements, near-convincing fake news, poorly written AI-authored books, and even talking animal content. Luxury brands like Valentino have not been immune, incorporating such elements into their marketing. Merriam-Webster's announcement quipped, 'Like slime, sludge and muck, slop has the wet sound of something you don't want to touch,' underscoring a mix of bemusement and exasperation with AI's unchecked output.
The selection reflects broader trends in a year marked by generative AI's boom, where platforms struggle with deepfakes, clickbait, and volume-over-value creations. Editors noted that 'slop' encapsulates a cultural sentiment focused on poking fun at mindless content spread rather than fearing technology itself.
Other words shaping 2025 discourse include '67,' a viral Gen Alpha slang; 'performative,' critiquing showy behavior; 'touch grass,' urging disconnection from digital obsession; and politically charged terms like 'gerrymander' and 'tariff.' Globally, Oxford University Press chose 'rage bait' for outrage-inducing content, Australia's Macquarie Dictionary selected 'AI slop,' Cambridge picked 'parasocial' for one-sided online relationships, and Dictionary.com went with '67.'
This linguistic snapshot signals fatigue and fascination with digital evolution, emphasizing the need for quality amid AI's signal-to-noise challenges in content moderation and cultural perception.