December 17, 2025 After a year defined by generative AI and an explosion of low-effort digital output, Merriam-Webster has named “slop” its 2025 Word of the Year. The term reflects growing frustration with the flood of low-quality, AI-generated content now filling social feeds, ad campaigns and online marketplaces.
Merriam-Webster defines “slop” as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” While the word dates back centuries and was once referring to mud, waste or scraps, the editors say its modern usage captures a distinctly 21st-century problem: scale without substance.
The term has gained traction as generative AI systems have made it trivial to churn out videos, ads, books and posts at scale. Much of that output is not malicious or overtly deceptive but it is thin. Near-believable fake news, glitchy promotional videos, poorly assembled AI-authored books and surreal social media clips have become routine. Even major brands have joined in, producing campaigns that attract attention but offer little lasting value. “Slop” has become shorthand for output that exists because it can, not because it should. Even major brands have leaned into the trend, with luxury labels among those experimenting with content that critics argue prioritizes novelty over craft.
Merriam-Webster said the word resonated because it describes both a visible trend and a shared sentiment. The tone, it explains, is weary humour. It’s like a collective eye-roll at feeds clogged with material that looks polished at a glance but offers little value on closer inspection. As the dictionary noted in its announcement, “slop” carries “the wet sound of something you don’t want to touch,” an apt metaphor for how much AI-generated material now feels unavoidable. But it is less an indictment of AI itself than of how carelessly it is often deployed.
Other dictionaries highlighted terms that reflect similar tensions between technology and culture. Oxford University Press chose “rage bait,” pointing to engagement-driven outrage online. Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary focused on “AI slop,” while Cambridge Dictionary selected “parasocial,” reflecting the blurred relationships forming between people, creators and AI systems. Dictionary.com, meanwhile, leaned into internet slang with “67,” a social media slang term that is “purposefully nonsensical.”
“67” also made it to the top of the list of terms that defined this year’s discourse for Merriam-Webster. It is followed by “performative,” “touch grass,” “Gerrymander” and “tariff.”
Taken together, these choices sketch a year shaped by overexposure and adaptation. For technologists, platform operators and content creators, “slop” underscores a growing challenge in the AI era, as brands and creators are increasingly judged not on how much content they can produce, but on how well they prevent low-value material from overwhelming everything else.
