Merriam-Webster Names 'Slop' Word of the Year as AI Content Floods the Internet
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Merriam-Webster crowns "slop" word of the year as AI content floods Internet
Like most tools, generative AI models can be misused. And when the misuse gets bad enough that a major dictionary notices, you know it's become a cultural phenomenon. On Sunday, Merriam-Webster announced that "slop" is its 2025 Word of the Year, reflecting how the term has become shorthand for the
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Merriam-Webster names 'slop' the word of the year | TechCrunch
AI's impact on our social media feeds has not gone unnoticed by one of America's top dictionaries. Amidst the onslaught of content that has swept the web over the past twelve months, Merriam-Webster announced Sunday that its word of the year for 2025 is "slop." The dictionary defines the term as
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'Slop' Is Merriam-Webster's 2025 Word of the Year as AI Content Floods the Internet
Macy has been working for CNET for coming on 2 years. Prior to CNET, Macy received a North Carolina College Media Association award in sports writing. In a year dominated by the booming AI industry and an overwhelming flood of digital creations, Merriam-Webster has crowned "slop" as its 2025 Word
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Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of the year is 'slop'
Merriam-Webster has settled on a word that represents 2025 -- and that word is "slop." The dictionary-maker defines "slop" as "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence," something that many people have become familiar with as
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Merriam-Webster declares 'slop' its word of the year in nod to growth of AI
The logos of Google Gemini, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Claude by Anthropic, Perplexity, and Bing apps are displayed on the screen of a smartphone in Reno, United States, on November 21, 2024. Merriam-Webster declared "slop" its 2025 word of the year on Monday, a sign of growing wariness around
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'Slop' is Merriam-Webster's word of the year
Merriam-Webster "slop" for the dictionary company's 2025 word of the year. The leading lexicographers define slop as "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence." We've seen an absolute deluge of AI slop this year, from to . Not even food
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Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of the year is 'slop'
Creepy, zany and demonstrably fake content is often called "slop." The word's proliferation online, in part thanks to the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence, landed it Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of the year. "It's such an illustrative word," said Greg Barlow,
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Merriam-Webster's word of the year is "slop," and it's about AI
Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. Sloppy Award: The leading US publisher of English dictionaries and reference books has announced its word of the year, and it's all about AI. People tend to either embrace or despise "slop," but
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Heh. Merriam-Webster named 'slop' as the word of the year
I'm a word nerd. (You may not be surprised to learn this.) And while I wouldn't say that dictionaries function as writing bibles, their spelling standardizations stave off chaos. They also capture the social zeitgeist of the time, as exemplified by Merriam-Webster's nomination of a word to best
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We filled the internet with garbage, and now Slop is the word of the year -- nice going, AI
If the internet is a sea of content, AI slop is the flotsam and jetsam we're forced to swim around to make it from shore to shore. The garbage content is so ubiquitous that Merriam-Webster chose "Slop" as its 2025 Word of the Year, describing it as "digital content of low quality that is produced
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This AI pervasive side effect is Merriam-Webster's word of the year
The big picture: That slop is seeping beyond our screens into everyday vernacular, earning it the title of Merriam-Webster's 2025 Word of the Year. * The dictionary is not alone. The Economist also chose "slop" as the word that defined 2025. Context: AI slop is everywhere -- and it's gotten
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Merriam-Webster names "slop" the word of the year for 2025
Sometimes, the Merriam-Webster word of the year is predictable. And 2025 was one of those years. Extremely unsurprisingly, the famous and venerable publisher of dictionaries and other reference materials declared "slop" its word of the year for 2025. According to Merriam-Webster, slop is defined
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'Slop' is the word of the year. Here's how to avoid it
The internet has spent the year arguing about whether AI is genius, theft, or destiny. Merriam-Webster's editors cut through it with a simpler verdict: slop. The dictionary crowned "slop" its 2025 "word of the year," joining in on the anti-AI backlash and recognizing that the internet's new factory
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The word of the year is 'slop,' Merriam-Webster says | Fortune
Creepy, zany and demonstrably fake content is often called "slop." The word's proliferation online, in part thanks to the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence, landed it Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of the year. "It's such an illustrative word," said Greg Barlow,
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Merriam-Webster Declares 'Slop' the Word of the Year as AI Eats the Web
In what many observers might characterize as both ironic and, in some respects, entirely predictable, Merriam-Webster has named "slop" its 2025 Word of the Year -- a term increasingly used to describe large volumes of low-quality digital content generated at scale, by artificial intelligence. It's
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Merriam-Webster's word of the year is 'Slop,' summing up 12 months that have been especially soggy with AI-generated content in only four letters
In a move likely unsurprising to regular readers of this fine publication, Merriam-Webster's word of the year is 'Slop' (via The Associated Press). In a blog post, the dictionary and reference book company stresses the fact this word was in fact chosen by its "human editors." Merriam-Webster
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Merriam-Webster names slop as its 2025 word of the year
After yet another year of high-profile news stories and internet trends, Merriam-Webster has chosen one word to sum up 2025: Slop. The dictionary publisher defined it as "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence," and said it reflected
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"Slop" chosen as Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of the year
Creepy, zany and demonstrably fake content is often called "slop." The word's proliferation online, in part thanks to the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence, landed it the title of Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of the year. "It's such an illustrative word," said Greg
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Merriam-Webster's 2025 Word of the Year is 'slop'
A fitting Word of the Year from Merriam-Webster, which reflects one of 2025's main sources of concern: the proliferation of AI and our way of consuming low quality digital content. The Word of the Year reflects the preoccupations of the time... And in an age of post-truth, deepfakes and creepy
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How 'slop' became the defining word of 2025
Merriam-Webster just announced in a post that its "human editors" have chosen "slop" as the 2025 Word of the Year. The dictionary's official definition of the word is "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence," a far cry from its
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'Slop' crowned Merriam-Webster word of the year, defining era of AI-generated content
Runners up included "gerrymander," "touch grass," "performative" and "tariff." It's messy, it's meaningless and it's everywhere: "slop" has been crowned as Merriam-Webster's 2025 Word of the Year. The dictionary defines the term as "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in
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At Work and Across the Internet, the Word of the Year is 'Slop'
Just a week after company review platform Glassdoor selected "fatigue" as the term that best characterized the cumulative effects of political tensions, economic uncertainty, and job fears on the U.S. workplace in 2025, dictionary powerhouse Merriam-Webster looked elsewhere for its word of the
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Why 'Slop' Is the Perfect Word for 2025
A man explains how he creates protest scenes using an AI prompt website. The humans at Merriam-Webster have picked their word of the year: "slop." That's not the pig food, but the "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence." In some
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Merriam-Webster's word of the year for 2025 is 'slop,' and here's why
Creepy, zany and demonstrably fake content is often called "slop." The word's proliferation online, in part thanks to the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence (AI), landed it Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of the year. "It's such an illustrative word," said Greg Barlow,
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Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of the year is 'slop'
Creepy, zany and demonstrably fake content is often called "slop." The word's proliferation online, in part thanks to the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence, landed it Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of the year. "It's such an illustrative word," said Greg Barlow,
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'Slop' Is Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year 2025. Here's Why
As 2025 comes to a close, Merriam-Webster is marking an annual tradition. On Dec. 15, the leading expert in language announced that "slop" had earned the title of word of the year for 2025. In case you're not familiar with the word, Merriam-Webster provided the following definition of slop:
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And Merriam-Webster's 2025 Word Of The Year Is Utter...
It was first used in the 1700s, but its meaning has evolved in recent years. Creepy, zany and demonstrably fake content is often called "slop." The word's proliferation online, in part thanks to the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence, landed it Merriam-Webster's 2025
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Merriam-Webster Names "Slop" Word of the Year Amid AI Boom
HBO Max Teases 'Lanterns,' New Seasons of 'The Pitt' and 'Industry' in 2026 Preview In a world of digital noise and clutter driven by new generative artificial intelligence technologies, the Merriam-Webster dictionary has announced "slop" as the 2025 word of the year. Defined as "digital content
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Merriam-Webster has crowned 'slop' as its 2025 Word of the Year, reflecting the flood of low-quality AI-generated content across social media and the web. The dictionary defines slop as digital content of low quality produced in quantity by artificial intelligence. The term captures growing public awareness and frustration with AI content that clogs feeds, from fake news to glitched ads.
Merriam-Webster Word of the Year Signals Cultural Shift
Merriam-Webster announced on Sunday that slop is its 2025 Word of the Year, marking a significant moment in how society perceives artificial intelligence and its output
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. The dictionary defines the term as "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence"1
. This selection reflects how AI content floods internet platforms, with AI-generated videos, advertisements, fake news, and books proliferating across social media and search results at an unprecedented scale.
Source: HuffPost
"It's such an illustrative word," Merriam-Webster president Greg Barlow told the Associated Press. "It's part of a transformative technology, AI, and it's something that people have found fascinating, annoying, and a little bit ridiculous"
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. The spike in searches for slop reflects growing awareness among users that they are encountering fake or shoddy content online1
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Source: TechRadar
AI Slop Economy Reshapes Digital Landscape
The cultural impact of AI has manifested in what critics call a "slop economy," where gluts of AI-generated content can be milked for advertising money
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. One study in May claimed that nearly 75 percent of all new web content from the previous month had involved some kind of AI2
. This content deluge is polarizing digital communities, dividing them between those who can afford paywalled, higher-quality content and those who can only access low-quality digital content that often lacks informational value2
.Meta launched Vibes, a separate feed for AI-generated videos in September, while OpenAI released its Sora app shortly after
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. Even Disney struck a deal to bring Sora-generated videos to its streaming platform while taking a billion-dollar equity stake in OpenAI4
. Meanwhile, platforms like YouTube, Wikipedia, Spotify, and Pinterest took steps to stave off the infestation of AI slop4
. Spotify removed over 75 million AI-generated, "spammy tracks" from its service and rolled out formal policies to protect artists from AI impersonation5
.From Mud to Mockery: The Evolution of Slop
The word slop originally entered English in the 1700s to mean soft mud. By the 1800s, it had evolved to describe food waste fed to pigs, and eventually came to mean rubbish or products of little value
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. "Like slime, sludge, and muck, slop has the wet sound of something you don't want to touch," Merriam-Webster wrote2
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Source: AP
Independent AI researcher Simon Willison helped document the term's rise in May 2024, comparing it to how spam had previously become the word for unwanted email
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. "In 2025, amid all the talk about AI threats, slop set a tone that's less fearful, more mocking," Merriam-Webster wrote. "The word sends a little message to AI: when it comes to replacing human creativity, sometimes you don't seem too superintelligent"1
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.Related Stories
Growing AI Anxiety and Content Moderation Challenges
The selection of slop as Word of the Year comes amid growing AI anxiety about how artificial intelligence is reshaping digital spaces. According to CNBC's All-America Economic Survey published December 15, just 48% of respondents said they had used AI platforms recently, down from 53% in August
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. This decline suggests increasing wariness around AI tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Google Gemini.Former Evernote CEO Phil Libin offered nuance to the debate, suggesting the distinction comes down to intention: "When AI is used to produce mediocre things with less effort than it would have taken without AI, it's slop. When it's used to make something better than it could have been made without AI, it's a positive augmentation"
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. Willison echoed this view: "Not all promotional content is spam, and not all AI-generated content is slop. But if it's mindlessly generated and thrust upon someone who didn't ask for it, slop is the perfect term for it"1
.Other dictionaries also selected tech-related terms this year. Oxford University Press chose "rage bait," referring to content designed to provoke anger for engagement
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. Macquarie Dictionary in Australia spotlighted "AI slop," while Cambridge Dictionary picked "parasocial," focusing on one-sided relationships with online personalities3
. These selections mirror a generation negotiating fatigue and frustration with the digital world3
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