Collins Dictionary’s 2025 Word of the Year list is a testament to the power of online culture, with “aura farming” and “glaze” earning spots as key terms. These words, born on social media, reveal our new ways of understanding and critiquing social status, influence, and the performance of self.
“Aura farming” is defined as the “deliberate cultivation of a distinctive and charismatic persona,” or more simply, the art of looking cool. While popular in gaming circles, it exploded into the mainstream this year, largely thanks to the viral “boat kid” video. This video sparked a dance trend embraced by celebrities like Travis Kelce, cementing “aura farming” as a term for manufacturing a desirable personal brand.
Alongside this term for building status is “glaze,” a word of disapproval for how others recognize it. “Glaze” means to praise or flatter someone excessively or undeservedly. Its popularity on social media points to a collective side-eye at what is seen as inauthentic adulation, often directed at influencers or celebrities.
These social terms competed against a list dominated by technology. The overall winner for 2025 was “vibe coding,” a term for AI-assisted programming that rose to prominence after being coined by OpenAI’s Andrej Karpathy. Its win highlights the dual forces of social media and AI in shaping modern language.
The list also reflected anxieties about wealth and power. “Broligarchy” was included as a nickname for the tech elite, while “Henry” (high earner, not rich yet) captured the frustrations of an aspiring but squeezed professional class.