Creepy, zany and demonstrably pretend content material is usually referred to as “slop.” The phrase’s proliferation on-line, partly because of the widespread availability of generative synthetic intelligence, landed it Merriam-Webster’s 2025 phrase of the 12 months.“It’s such an illustrative phrase,” mentioned Greg Barlow, Merriam-Webster’s president, in an unique interview with The Related Press forward of Monday’s announcement. “It’s a part of a transformative know-how, AI, and it’s one thing that folks have discovered fascinating, annoying and slightly bit ridiculous.”“Slop” was first used within the 1700s to imply smooth mud, however it advanced extra usually to imply one thing of little worth. The definition has since expanded to imply “digital content material of low high quality that’s produced often in amount via synthetic intelligence.”In different phrases, “you understand, absurd movies, bizarre promoting photos, tacky propaganda, pretend information that appears actual, junky AI-written digital books,” Barlow mentioned.AI video turbines like Sora have wowed with their means to shortly create sensible clips primarily based merely on textual content prompts. However a flood of those photos on social media, together with clips depicting celebrities and deceased public figures, has raised worries about misinformation, deepfakes and copyright.Such content material has existed on-line for years, however the instruments are extra accessible now — and used to political ends by, amongst different figures, the pinnacle of the Pentagon. Final month, Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a manipulated picture of a beloved cartoon turtle, reimagined as a grenade-wielding fighter, to defend U.S. army actions in Venezuela.The Canadian animated present “Franklin” teaches preschoolers about kindness, empathy and inclusivity — however in Hegseth’s palms, its 6-year-old major character turned a device to advertise violence.The phrase “slop” evokes disagreeable photos of mud-caked pigs crowding round a unclean trough, or maybe a bucket of steaming, fetid stew. Or AI amalgamations of algorithmic biases laden with offensive or nonsensical imagery.For some, the phrase induces dread.However to Barlow, it brings a way of hope. The dictionary’s president says the spike in searches for the phrase displays that folks have grown extra conscious of pretend or shoddy content material, and want the inverse.“They need issues which are actual, they need issues which are real,” he mentioned. “It’s virtually a defiant phrase in relation to AI. With regards to changing human creativity, typically AI truly doesn’t appear so clever.”To pick out the phrase of the 12 months, the dictionary’s editors overview information about which phrases have risen in search outcomes and utilization. Then they arrive to a consensus about which phrase finest displays the span of the 12 months.“We prefer to assume that we’re a mirror for folks,” Barlow mentioned.Over time, there are phrases which are constantly regarded up, however they’re filtered out because the dictionary’s editors decide the one which finest defines the 12 months at hand.“Phrases like ‘ubiquitous,’ ‘paradigm,’ ‘albeit,’ ‘irregardless,’ these are at all times high lookups as a result of they’re phrases which are on the sting of our lexicon,” Barlow mentioned. “’Irregardless’ is a phrase within the dictionary for one cause: It’s used. It’s been used for many years to imply ‘regardless.’”The dictionary has chosen one phrase yearly since 2003 to seize and make sense of the present second. Final 12 months, shortly after the U.S. presidential election and amid the shifting nationwide temper, Merriam-Webster selected the phrase “polarization.”A contemporary version got here out final month that provides over 5,000 new phrases — a uncommon step that includes absolutely revising and reimagining certainly one of its hottest dictionaries.Rounding out Merriam-Webster’s high phrases of 2025:6-7The viral time period exploded in recognition over the summer season. It’s an inside joke with an unclear that means, pushed by social media. It may be traced again to rapper Skrilla’s 2024 tune “Doot Doot (6 7).”“It is self-referential,” Barlow mentioned. “It’s all the craze, however it’s not a defining time period.”PerformativeThe “performative male” is on-line shorthand for a disingenuous man who pretends to love issues ladies like with a purpose to earn their belief. There’s additionally a spate of influencers who’ve been referred to as performative for posting surface-level “ kindness content material.” The phrase is flexible, because it extends to stunts in nationwide politics, grandstanding on social media and even the character of the UN Normal Meeting.GerrymanderThere’s a protracted nationwide historical past of partisan gerrymandering within the U.S. To retain Republican management of Congress, President Donald Trump has urged maps to be redrawn earlier than the 2026 midterm elections. That is led to GOP strikes in Texas and Indiana to attract districts to their benefit, in addition to a counter effort in Democrat-led California.Contact grassThe definition of this common web phrase is “to take part in regular actions in the actual world particularly versus on-line experiences and interactions.” It was a critical contender for Merriam-Webster’s phrase of the 12 months, because it’s used to “describe the aspiration for many individuals to take a break from their digital habit,” Barlow mentioned.ConclaveA conclave is the centuries-old election of a pope that derives its identify from the Italian “con clave” — that means “with a key” — to underscore that cardinals are sequestered till they discover a winner.Some realized the that means from the titular movie in 2024. Others came upon in actual time when Pope Leo XIV turned historical past’s first American pope in Might 2025. “It was so occasion particular, however the spike (in searches) was big,” Barlow mentioned.TariffsOriginally from Italian and Arabic for “freed from cost,” the phrase entered English centuries in the past. The definition is “a schedule of duties imposed by a authorities on imported or in some nations exported items.”Trump boasts that his tariffs shield American industries, lure factories to the U.S., increase cash for the federal authorities and provides him diplomatic leverage. However they’ve sparked a commerce warfare and in actuality account for lower than 4% of federal income. The tariffs have additionally achieved little to dent the federal finances deficit — a staggering $1.8 trillion in fiscal 2025.Lake ChargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamauggYes, you learn that appropriately. “The identify of this lake delighted and baffled us when it began clogging the Prime Lookups checklist on Merriam-Webster.com,” the dictionary’s editors mentioned. Within the Roblox recreation Spelling Bee!, the Massachusetts lake’s identify may be encountered in particular modes. However in New England? It is often known as Webster Lake.