The word “parasocial” has been named the Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year for 2025. The word is defined as “involving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know”.
The Cambridge Dictionary said the choice reflects the rise in one-sided emotional relationships people have formed with celebrities, influencers and, increasingly, AI chatbots.
The term has gained renewed relevance through fan culture, as seen when Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement; many fans felt a deep connection. This has also been reflected in viral TV finales and the emergence of AI bots like ChatGPT who have become objects of attachment.
New entrants to the Cambridge Dictionary also included “skibidi”, “delulu” and “tradwife”.
Here’s why Parasocial was named Word of the Year:
Psychologists have described fans’ connections to stars like Taylor Swift as “parasocial” bonds.
“The emergence of parasocial relationships with AI bots has seen people treat ChatGPT as a confidant, friend or even romantic partner. This has led to emotionally meaningful – and in some cases disturbing – connections for users and concerns about the consequences,” Cambridge Dictionary said in a press statement.
Colin McIntosh of the Cambridge Dictionary said: “Parasocial captures the zeitgeist of 2025. It’s a great example of how language is changing.”
“Millions of people are involved in parasocial relationships; many more are simply fascinated by their rise,” he added.
“Language around parasocial phenomena evolves rapidly as technology, society and culture change and mutate: from celebrities to chatbots, parasocial trends are fascinating to those interested in the development of language,” said McIntosh, referring to “chronically online” unreciped parasocial relationships with YouTubers and influencers in 2025.
Simone Schnall, professor of experimental social psychology at the University of Cambridge, said. “Parasocial is an inspired choice for Word of the Year. The rise of parasocial relationships has redefined fandom, celebrity and, with artificial intelligence, the way ordinary people interact online.”
“We have entered an age where many people form unhealthy and intense parasocial relationships with influencers. This leads to the feeling that people ‘know’ those with whom they form parasocial ties, can trust them and even to extreme forms of loyalty. Yet this is completely one-sided,” Schnall added.
The origin of the word of the year – parasocial
The term originated in 1956, when sociologists Donald Horton and Richard Wohl of the University of Chicago observed television viewers engaging in “parasocial” relationships with on-screen personalities that resembled those they formed with “real” family and friends.
They noted how the rapidly developing medium of television brought actors’ faces directly into viewers’ homes and made them fixtures in people’s lives.
