Merriam-Webster’s 2025 Word of the Year Is… “Slop”

(Yes. Really.)

If you’ve ever scrolled your phone and thought, “What am I even looking at right now?” — congratulations. You already understand Merriam-Webster’s 2025 Word of the Year: slop.

The dictionary crowned “slop” after noticing how often the word popped up online this year, especially as the internet became increasingly flooded with weird, fake, low-effort content. And moms everywhere nodded in immediate recognition.

What Exactly Is “Slop”?

Once upon a time in the 1700s, “slop” simply meant soft mud. Over time, it evolved to mean something of low value.

Fast-forward to 2025, and Merriam-Webster now defines slop as:
👉 digital content of low quality, usually produced in large quantities by artificial intelligence.

In plain English?

• Bizarre videos that make no sense
• Fake ads that look almost real
• AI books no one asked for
• Deepfake celebrities doing things they never did
• Junk content clogging your feed while you’re just trying to check the weather

All. Slop.

Blame the Robots (Kind Of)

AI tools have gotten incredibly good at creating images and videos from simple text prompts. Some of it is impressive. A lot of it is… unsettling.

Sure, AI can whip up a realistic video in seconds. But when social media fills up with fake news, creepy clips, and misleading images, it becomes harder to tell what’s real — and that’s where concern creeps in.

Misinformation, deepfakes, copyright issues… It’s a digital mess, and slop is the polite way of describing it.

How Merriam-Webster Picks the Word of the Year

Every year since 2003, Merriam-Webster has tracked which words people are searching and using the most. Then, editors debate and choose the word that best captures the vibe of the year.

Some words are always popular, but they don’t count. The winner has to reflect what we were all collectively dealing with.

Last year’s word was “polarization.”
This year? A term that perfectly sums up the internet in 2025.

RELATED: From “Beast Mode” to “Teraflop”: 10 New Words Merriam-Webster Just Added

The Bottom Line

If 2025 felt like:

• Too much nonsense
• Too many fake things
• Too much scrolling with zero payoff

Then “slop” makes uncomfortable sense.

It’s messy. It’s overwhelming. And honestly? It’s the most accurate word Merriam-Webster could’ve picked.

Now excuse us while we close the apps and go touch grass. 🌱📵