Global Zeitgeist Reflected Down Under

GLOBAL – The Macquarie Dictionary, recognized as Australia's national dictionary, has unveiled its shortlist for the 2025 Word of the Year, providing a compelling look into the evolution of the English language. While the selection originates in Australia, the nominated terms resonate globally, reflecting widespread shifts in technology, health, and digital culture. The announcement, made on Tuesday, 18 November 2025, EAT, includes a public vote open until the night of Sunday, 23 November 2025, EAT, with winners in both the People's Choice and Committee's Choice categories to be declared the following Tuesday. Victoria Morgan, the dictionary's executive editor, noted that the shortlist is drawn from words that have entered the lexicon over the past year across various fields.

Technology and Digital Life Dominate

Highlighting the pervasive influence of artificial intelligence, 'AI slop' is a prominent finalist. The term refers to low-quality, often erroneous or nonsensical content generated by AI, which has proliferated across the internet. This reflects a growing global concern about the degradation of online information, a sentiment echoed by the inclusion of 'slop' as a finalist for Oxford's 2024 Word of the Year. Another key term, 'attention economy,' defines a system where human attention is treated as a scarce and valuable commodity, a concept central to the business models of social media and technology platforms worldwide.

Health and Social Trends in the Spotlight

The global conversation around new weight-loss drugs is captured by the term 'Ozempic face,' which describes the wrinkling and sagging of the face that can result from rapid weight loss associated with semaglutide medications. This finalist points to the widespread cultural and medical impact of these pharmaceuticals. In a different vein, 'bathroom camping' has emerged to describe the act of spending extended periods in an office restroom to take a break from work, signaling a broader, international dialogue about work-life balance, employee burnout, and workplace culture. The list also includes 'medical misogyny,' a term for the systemic prejudice against women in medical contexts, indicating a rising global awareness and discussion of gender bias in healthcare.

The Lexicon of Online Culture

Social media continues to be a powerful engine of linguistic innovation, and the shortlist reflects this. The term 'Roman empire' refers to a subject, often unusual, that an individual thinks about frequently, a trend that gained massive popularity on platforms like TikTok. Similarly, the phrase 'ate (and left no crumbs)' is an expression of approval, meaning someone has executed something perfectly. These terms demonstrate how niche online slang can quickly enter the mainstream, crossing geographical boundaries. Another finalist, 'bird-dogging,' describes the act of persistently questioning political candidates at public events to elicit a response on a specific issue, a practice amplified by social media.

A Global Tradition

Macquarie's annual selection is part of a global tradition among the world's leading dictionaries to capture the zeitgeist through language. For 2024, Oxford University Press chose 'brain rot,' defined as the perceived mental decline from consuming trivial online content. Merriam-Webster selected 'polarization' for its 2024 Word of the Year, reflecting deep societal divisions, particularly in the context of major elections. In 2023, Merriam-Webster's choice was 'authentic,' while Oxford's was 'rizz.' These selections, alongside Macquarie's 2025 finalists, underscore a shared global experience, where technology, social dynamics, and health are shaping not just our lives, but the very words we use to describe them. The 2024 Macquarie winner, 'enshittification,' described the gradual decay of online platforms, a theme that continues with the nomination of 'AI slop'.