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CAUSE–IDEIA Survey Names ‘Uncertainty’ Brazil’s 2025 Word of the Year

A national CAUSE–IDEIA poll reads the choice as evidence of a prevailing sense of instability.

Overview

  • The term received 24% of responses, ahead of “Inteligência Artificial” (16%), “Tensão” (15%), “Justiça” (14%), “Adaptação” (9%), “Amazônia” (6%) and “Burnout” (3%).
  • The finalists were shortlisted by experts and tested in a representative survey of 1,500 Brazilians aged 16 and over conducted December 1–4 with a ±3 percentage-point margin of error at 95% confidence, calibrated to PNAD and the 2022 Census.
  • Organizers say the result reflects a collective sense of instability linked to rapid economic and technological shifts, geopolitical strains and persistent internal inequalities.
  • Researchers connect the pick to 2024’s winner, “Ansiedade” (Anxiety), arguing that consecutive choices point to a broader diagnostic of the national mood.
  • Global selections differed this year, with Collins choosing “vibe coding,” Oxford selecting “rage bait” and Cambridge naming “parassocial.”