Merriam-Webster’s 2025 word of the year takes aim at poor AI content

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Merriam-Webster is the latest dictionary to name a word of the year that relates to our relationship with technology. – JGI/Jamie Grill/Tetra images RF/Getty Images

“Slop,” a term used to describe low-quality digital content, has been named word of the year by the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

The dictionary defines slop as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” A statement from Merriam-Webster cites examples such as absurd videos, talking cats and AI-written books.

Merriam-Webster is the latest in a string of dictionaries to choose words of the year based on our relationship with technology and artificial intelligence. Collins’ word of the year “vibe coding,” Cambridge’s “parasocial” and Oxford’s “rage bait” all reflect contemporary concerns about the effects of tech on our lives.

First used in the 1700s to mean “soft mud,” “slop” then came to mean “food waste” in the 1800s before taking on a more general meaning of “rubbish” or “a product of little or no value,” according to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Merriam-Webster’s statement acknowledges that slop in the modern day divides opinions.

“People found it annoying, and people ate it up,” reads the statement, which goes on to discuss the almost mocking tone behind the term.

“The word sends a little message to AI: when it comes to replacing human creativity, sometimes you don’t seem too superintelligent,” it reads.

Other candidates for word of the year included “gerrymander,” meaning “to divide a state, school district, etc. into political units or election districts that give one group or political party an unfair advantage,” which came to the fore in the United States this year as both Republican and Democrat politicians used redistricting to gain political advantage.

Editors also considered choosing the phrase “touch grass,” which means “to participate in normal activities…

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