Overview
- Cambridge Dictionary defines parasocial as a felt connection to someone unknown to the individual, including celebrities, fictional characters, or an AI.
- Use of the term surged in 2025, with the site reporting spikes in lookups as interest in influencer culture and chatbot interactions grew.
- Lexicographer Colin McIntosh said the choice reflects how a once academic term has entered mainstream discourse and captures this year’s zeitgeist.
- University of Cambridge psychologist Simone Schnall warned such relationships can be intense, one‑sided, and potentially unhealthy, especially for young people.
- The announcement spotlighted other 2025 vocabulary and roughly 6,000 new entries, including AI‑related terms like “slop,” as well as “memeify” and “delulu,” while Dictionary.com selected “67” for its own list.