Words of the year are rolling in, and they’re all from Gen Z. (Obviously.) The time is here where dictionaries—and everyone else—start defining 2025 in a single word or phrase. And just like last year, every pick is straight from Gen Z culture. Collins chose “vibe coding,” an approach to computer science driven by plain language AI prompts, which is reportedly making real coding skills less valuable to incoming college students. Dictionary.com picked “6-7,” which is not really a word, but has absolutely taken over Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang from social media comments to classrooms. (Sometimes getting it banned by teachers or parents.) Cambridge just announced “parasocial” as theirs; while not quite as buzzword-y and recent as the others, they’re linking one-way relationships to not only obsession with celebrities, but AI chatbots, too. (Collins Dictionary, Dictionary.com, Cambridge Dictionary)
👀 Read more from YPulse: YPulse Explains: 6-7, Performative Males, and More Gen Z Terms to Know
