Merriam-Webster Names “Slop” Word of 2025
In a statement posted Sunday on its website, Merriam-Webster explained that it defines slop as "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence."
According to the dictionary, the "flood of slop in 2025 included absurd videos, off-kilter advertising images, cheesy propaganda, fake news that looks pretty real, (and) junky AI-written books."
"In 2025, amid all the talk about AI threats, slop set a tone that’s less fearful, more mocking," said Merriam-Webster, widely regarded as the leading authority on American English and an institution that traces its origins to Noah Webster, the early American language scholar.
Historically, the term carried different meanings. In the 1700s, it referred to "soft mud." By the following century, it came to signify "food waste," and later expanded to describe "rubbish" or "a product of little or no value."
The word also has a place in agricultural language. Among farmers, “slop the hogs” describes the act of feeding pigs, particularly when giving them leftover food.
Beyond "slop," Merriam-Webster’s 2025 search data highlighted several other notable terms. These included gerrymander (the manipulation of voting boundaries for political gain), touch grass (a prompt to step outside), performative, tariff, six seven (a youth expression that has puzzled older generations), and conclave, linked to the Vatican gathering held in May to choose a new pope.
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