A 70-year-old academic term has been crowned Word of the Year for 2025, after surging back into mainstream use as more of our lives play out online.

Create a free account to read this article

Login or signup to continue reading

Continue with Email

Continue with Google

Continue with Apple

Parasocial is 2025's most important word, according to Cambridge Dictionary, which defines it as "a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know".

"What was once a specialist academic term has become mainstream," Cambridge Dictionary editor Colin McIntosh said.

"Millions of people are engaged in parasocial relationships; many more are simply intrigued by their rise. The data reflects that, with the Cambridge Dictionary website seeing spikes in lookups fo

See Full Page