Cambridge Dictionary has selected "parasocial" as its Word of the Year for 2025. The term is defined as "involving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know, a character in a book, film, TV series, etc., or an artificial intelligence."
According to Cambridge University Press & Assessment, publisher of the Cambridge Dictionary, this year saw growing interest in one-sided relationships people develop with celebrities, influencers, and AI chatbots. Several words connected to artificial intelligence were added or updated in the dictionary during 2025. One example is "slop," which refers to low-quality internet content, especially when created by AI.
Simone Schnall, Professor of Experimental Social Psychology at the University of Cambridge, commented: “Parasocial is the perfect Word of the Year.
"The rise of parasocial relationships has redefined fandom, celebrity and, with AI, how ordinary people interact online.
"We’ve entered an age where many people form unhealthy and intense parasocial relationships with influencers. This leads to a sense that people ‘know’ those they form parasocial bonds with, can trust them and even to extreme forms of loyalty. Yet it’s completely one sided."
The concept dates back to 1956 when University of Chicago sociologists Donald Horton and Richard Wohl described television viewers forming “para-social” connections with on-screen personalities similar to those they had with real family and friends. They observed that television brought actors directly into viewers' homes and made them regular parts of daily life.
Colin McIntosh from Cambridge Dictionary said: “Parasocial captures the 2025 zeitgeist. It's a great example of how language changes.
“What was once a specialist academic term has become mainstream. 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 for ‘parasocial’.”
The announcement highlights how shifts in technology and media consumption influence language development.