Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year: In today's digital world, we hear new words every day. These are words that explain our online lives, our behavior, and our likes and dislikes. In this context, Cambridge Dictionary has chosen 'Parasocial' as the Word of the Year for 2025. It's not just a word, but the story of the emotional connection between us and the internet world.

What is Parasocial? Why did it become the Word of the Year?
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, Parasocial refers to the connection a person feels with a celebrity, book character, film, series, or artificial intelligence, even though they don't actually know each other.

This term isn't new. It originated in 1956, when American sociologists coined it to describe the emotional connection between TV viewers and TV stars. However, the term was then confined to the academic world. However, in the age of social media, this word has suddenly become a part of the common language.

Colin McIntosh, Chief Editor of the Cambridge Dictionary, says that social media has rapidly popularized this word.

How has fan culture changed in today's times?

Now, fans aren't just content watching TV; they like every post of their favorite celebrity, share every video, rewatch reels, comment, and follow their favorite star's every move. Furthermore, they are the first to react to a first-look trailer, the most talked-about red-carpet look, and the first to buy a celebrity's branded product.

Previously, people called such people groupies, otaku in Japanese, and sasaeng in Korean. The word "stan" came into vogue during the millennial era. Today, this association has become a new, easier, and more popular term: "parasocial."

When did this word become trending?
In Cambridge Dictionary's research, "parasocial" suddenly surfaced on several occasions. On June 30th, YouTuber IShowSpeed blocked an obsessive fan who called himself the Number 1 Parasocial. Furthermore, on August 26th, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's fans celebrated the news of their engagement as if it were their own home.

Last week, Australian Instagrammer Johnson Wayne was jailed for jumping on stage while holding Ariana Grande during a movie premiere in Singapore. He had also climbed on stage at a Katy Perry concert before. All these examples demonstrate that many people no longer distinguish between the online and real worlds.

Fandom: Joy and Sadness
Recently, people in India experienced two types of 'parasocial emotions':

Happiness: When the Indian women's cricket team won the World Cup, people felt it was a victory for their own family.

Sadness: The deaths of popular Bollywood actors Satish Shah and Asrani were mourned as if they had lost a loved one.

Even when a TV series ends, people become depressed, meaning parasocial emotions are present everywhere.

More Trending Words This Year
The dictionary has recognized several other words as important this year, including:
Slop – Low-quality content, often created by AI
Memeify – Turning a person/picture/event into a meme
Other words included in the dictionary this year include Skibidi, Delulu, and Tradwife. Dictionary.com has chosen this year's Word of the Year not as a word, but as a number: 67, a strange internet slang from Gen Alpha.

Why is language changing because of the internet?
These words have emerged over the past three years:
– Brain Rot
– Polarization
– Demure
– Rizz
– AI
– Authentic

New words are born every year as we search for new expressions to describe this blending of our digital and real-life experiences.
The ultimate question is: when the internet has even transformed our language, will a new word truly capture how deeply we are connected to it? Perhaps we will discover this in the coming years.

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