Creepy, funny, and obviously fake content is often referred to as “vulgar.” Thanks in part to the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence, the word has exploded online and was named Merriam-Webster's 2025 Word of the Year.
“It's really easy to understand,” Merriam-Webster President Greg Barlow said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press ahead of Monday's announcement. “This is part of AI, which is a transformative technology, and something that people find fascinating, annoying, and a little silly.”
clock: Critics warn that AI content will fuel confusion and spread misleading information
“Slop” was first used in the 1700s to mean soft mud, but has evolved to more commonly mean anything of low value. This definition has since been expanded to mean “low-quality digital content, typically produced in large quantities by artificial intelligence.”
In other words, “You know, the absurd videos, the weird advertising images, the cheap propaganda, the fake news that looks real, the junk digital books written by AI,” Barlow said.
AI video generators like Sora have amazed us with their ability to quickly create realistic clips based solely on text prompts. But these images, including clips of celebrities and deceased public figures, are flooding social media, raising concerns about misinformation, deepfakes and copyright.
While such content has existed online for years, the tools are now more accessible and being used for political purposes, particularly by the Secretary of Defense. Last month, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth posted a doctored image of a popular cartoon turtle reinterpreted as a grenade-toting fighter jet to defend the U.S. military's actions in Venezuela.
The Canadian animated show “Franklin” teaches preschoolers about kindness, empathy, and inclusion, but in Hegseth's hands, its six-year-old protagonist becomes a tool for inciting violence.
The word “slop” conjures unpleasant images of muddy pigs huddled around a dirty vat, or perhaps a bucket of steaming, foul-smelling stew. Or an AI amalgamation of algorithmic biases filled with offensive or nonsensical images.
For some people, this word causes fear.
But for Barlow, it brings a sense of hope. The dictionary's president said the surge in searches for the word reflects people's growing awareness of fake and inferior content, and vice versa.
“They want something real. They want something real,” he said. “When it comes to AI, it's almost a rebellious word. When it comes to replacing human creativity, it can sometimes seem like AI isn't actually all that intelligent.”
read more: “AI Architect” named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2025
To choose the word of the year, dictionary editors consider data about which words are rising in search results and usage. They then agree on which word best reflects the period of the year.
“We like to think of ourselves as a mirror to people,” Barlow says.
There are words that are consistently searched for over the years, but they are left out when dictionary editors select the words that best describe the year.
“Words like 'ubiquitous,' 'paradigm,' 'although,' and 'irrelevant' always appear at the top of searches because they are words at the edge of our lexicon,” Barlow says. “The word 'indifferent' is in the dictionary for a reason. It's been used to mean 'irrelevant' for decades.”
The dictionary has selected one word each year since 2003 to capture and make sense of the current moment. Merriam-Webster chose the word “polarization” last year in the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election, amidst a shift in the nation's mood.
Last month, a new edition was released with over 5,000 new words. This is an unusual step that involves completely revising and rethinking one of the most popular dictionaries.
Merriam-Webster's top quotes of 2025 can be summarized as follows:
6-7
This viral term exploded in popularity over the summer. This is a gibberish inside joke caused by social media. Its origins date back to rapper Skrilla's 2024 song “Doot Doot (6 7).”
“It's self-referential,” Barlow says. “It’s all the rage, but it’s not the word that defines it.”
performative
“Performative men” is an online abbreviation for dishonest men who pretend to like what women like in order to gain their trust. In addition, there is a growing number of influencers who post superficial “kind content” and are called performers. The word is versatile, as it extends to stunts in national politics, social media flaunts, and even the nature of the United Nations General Assembly.
gerrymander
The United States has a long national history of partisan gerrymandering. To maintain Republican control of Congress, President Donald Trump has urged redrawing the maps before the 2026 midterm elections. This led to Republican efforts to swing districts in their favor in Texas and Indiana, as well as a counterattack in Democratic-led California.
clock: Indiana Republican explains why he defied Trump and rejected congressional redistricting
touch the grass
The definition of this popular internet phrase is “participating in regular activities in the real world, especially as opposed to online experiences or interactions.” Barlow said the word was a strong candidate for Merriam-Webster's word of the year because it is used by “many people to express a desire to break away from digital addiction.”
conclave
A conclave is a centuries-old papal election whose name comes from the Italian word “con clave” (meaning “to hold the key”), emphasizing the isolation of cardinals until a winner is found.
Some learned its meaning from the title movie in 2024, while others learned it in real time in May 2025, when Pope Leo XIV became the first American Pope in history. “It was very event-specific, but the spike (in searches) was huge,” Barlow said.
customs duty
Originally from Italian and Arabic meaning “free”, this word entered the English language centuries ago. Its definition is “a schedule of tariffs imposed by a government on imported or, in some countries, exported goods.”
President Trump boasts that tariffs protect American industry, attract factories to the United States, raise federal money and give him diplomatic leverage. But they are causing trade wars and actually account for less than 4% of federal revenue. Tariffs also do little to reduce the federal budget deficit, which will reach a staggering $1.8 trillion in fiscal year 2025.
Chargoggagogmanchaugagoggchaubnagungamauglake
Yes, you read that correctly. “When this lake's name started appearing in Merriam-Webster.com's top lookup list, it both delighted and perplexed us,” said the dictionary's editors. In the Roblox game Spelling Bee!, you can meet the names of Massachusetts lakes in a special mode. But in New England? It is known as Lake Webster.
According to Merriam-Webster, which words defined the past decade?
- 2024: polarization
- 2023: genuine
- 2022: gaslighting
- 2021: vaccine
- 2020: pandemic
- 2019: they are
- 2018: justice
- 2017: feminism
- 2016: surreal
- 2015: principle
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