In a decision that reflects a growing cultural and technological phenomenon, Merriam-Webster has declared "slop" its 2025 Word of the Year. The selection highlights the pervasive spread of low-quality, often AI-generated digital content that users now routinely encounter online. This choice by the venerable dictionary publisher serves as a linguistic timestamp for a year defined by the collision of accessible artificial intelligence tools and the internet's content ecosystems, raising questions about quality, authenticity, and information integrity.
The Evolution of "Slop" from Mud to AI Junk
The word "slop" has a long history in the English language, dating back to the 1700s where it originally referred to soft mud or slush. Over centuries, its meaning broadened to signify something of little value, often waste or refuse, such as the food scraps fed to pigs. Merriam-Webster's latest definition formalizes its most modern incarnation: "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence." This evolution perfectly captures the essence of the current digital landscape, where AI tools can generate a deluge of content that is frequently bizarre, nonsensical, or demonstrably fake. Greg Barlow, president of Merriam-Webster, noted the term is "illustrative" and part of the "transformative technology" of AI, something people find both "fascinating" and "annoying."
The AI Tools Fueling the "Slop" Epidemic
The proliferation of "slop" is directly tied to the rapid advancement and democratization of generative AI technologies. Tools like OpenAI's Sora for video creation and various AI image and text generators have made it remarkably easy for anyone to produce content based on simple text prompts. While these tools can create impressive and realistic outputs, they have also led to a flood of low-effort, algorithmically biased, or outright deceptive material on social media platforms. This includes manipulated images of public figures, absurd advertising, and AI-written books of questionable quality. The accessibility of these tools means "slop" is no longer confined to niche internet corners but is a mainstream issue, used even for political messaging, as evidenced by the recent use of a manipulated cartoon image by a U.S. Defense Secretary.
Cultural and Societal Impact of Pervasive Low-Quality Content
The designation of "slop" as Word of the Year speaks to a broader societal awareness and frustration. The spike in searches for the word indicates that users are becoming more adept at identifying—and weary of—content that lacks genuine human creativity or factual basis. Barlow interprets this trend optimistically, suggesting it reflects a public desire for things that are "real" and "genuine." In this context, "slop" becomes a defiant label, a collective pushback against the notion that AI can or should replace authentic human expression. The phenomenon has also spurred related vocabulary, such as "rage bait" (content designed to provoke anger for engagement) and "parasocial" (one-sided relationships with online personalities), showing how digital culture is constantly evolving new terms to describe its complexities.
Other 2025 Dictionary Words of the Year
- Oxford University Press: "Rage bait" – content designed to provoke anger for online engagement.
- Cambridge Dictionary: "Parasocial" – describing one-sided, fan-based relationships with celebrities or online figures.
Merriam-Webster's Selection Process and Other Top Words
Merriam-Webster's editors select the Word of the Year by analyzing data on which terms have seen significant increases in lookups and usage over the past twelve months, aiming to choose the word that best holds a "mirror" to society. For 2025, "slop" beat out other notable contenders that also saw search spikes. These included the enigmatic viral phrase "6-7"; "performative," often used to describe disingenuous online behavior; "gerrymander," reflecting ongoing political redistricting battles; and the internet admonition to "touch grass," urging a break from digital immersion. The list demonstrates the dictionary's focus on capturing the zeitgeist, from viral memes and online culture to serious political and technological shifts.
Merriam-Webster's Top Words of 2025
- Word of the Year: Slop
- Other Top Contenders:
- 6-7: A viral term with an unclear meaning, popularized by a 2024 song.
- Performative: Used to describe disingenuous behavior, often online (e.g., "performative male," "performative kindness").
- Gerrymander: The manipulation of electoral district boundaries for political advantage, a topic of renewed debate in 2025.
- Touch Grass: An internet phrase urging people to engage with the real world instead of online experiences.
- Conclave: The process of electing a pope, which saw search spikes following the election of Pope Leo XIV in May 2025.
- Tariffs: Government duties on imported goods, a major topic due to trade policies.
- Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg: The name of a Massachusetts lake that saw lookup spikes due to its appearance in a popular online game.
A Linguistic Trend: Dictionaries Documenting the AI Age
Merriam-Webster's choice continues a recent trend of major dictionaries using their annual word selection to document the impact of artificial intelligence on society and language. In 2023, the Cambridge Dictionary chose "hallucinate" to describe AI models generating plausible but false information. By selecting "slop" for 2025, Merriam-Webster has pinpointed the next phase of public engagement with AI: the experience of being inundated by its often mediocre or misleading outputs. This linguistic acknowledgment underscores that the conversation has moved beyond awe at the technology's capabilities to a critical examination of its practical consequences for information quality and online discourse.