Lexicon experts at Merriam-Webster have chosen the word that sums up 2025.
This year it is slop.
While it may harken to an image of a not-so-appetizing plop of food on a tray, or a gloopy mess left behind, the definition used for the word of the year honor is “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.
As Merriam-Webster said, it is “All that stuff dumped on our screens, captured in just four letters: the English language came through again.”
The Wall Street Journal already warned of slop, saying “AI slop is everywhere,” while CNET said “AI Slop Has Turned Social Media Into an Antisocial Wasteland.”
Slop beat out other words to illustrate what 2025 was all about.
Those included:
- Gerrymander
- Touch grass
- Performative
- Tariff
- Six seven
- Conclave
- Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
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