Overview
- Oxford defines the term as online content deliberately designed to provoke anger to boost traffic or engagement.
- Usage of “rage bait” tripled over the last 12 months, according to Oxford’s multi‑billion‑word language data.
- More than 30,000 people voted over three days on a shortlist, with experts weighing public sentiment and lexical evidence to make the final decision.
- The shortlist also included “aura farming” and “biohack,” while other dictionaries selected different 2025 choices such as Collins’ “vibe coding” and Cambridge’s “parasocial.”
- Oxford traces the earliest recorded use to a 2002 Usenet post, and leaders including Casper Grathwohl say the term’s surge marks growing awareness of online manipulation tactics.