WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY’S 2025 WORD OF THE YEAR?

Every year, hundreds of new English words enter common use – through social media, technology, popular culture, and global events. Matthew Ellman looks at what teachers can take from some of the latest additions to the language.
What it means

This year, Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year is parasocial, defined as ‘involving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know’. It captures an idea that is only too familiar to today’s learners, who’ve grown up with social media and streaming services and will recognise their own parasocial relationships with the personalities they see on screen. Even your younger students are likely to have their favourite content creators.

Parasocial isn’t a new word, but it has come to the fore with the growth of AI, which has enabled parasocial relationships with online chatbots like ChatGPT. Similarly, previous winners of Word of the Year, like manifest, hallucinate, or nomophobia didn’t exist with their present usage a generation ago. Yet they’ve become essential to how many people talk about the modern world, and their rise in popularity reflects important discussions about recent changes in society. For learners, being familiar with such vocabulary isn’t only a matter of comprehension; it’s about developing their capacity to participate in a global conversation.

Words and phrases gain greater use because the issues they describe are growing in relevance. For teachers, this highlights two opportunities: firstly, that paying attention to the language our students use can help us engage and connect with then as learners, and secondly, that classrooms can and should be safe spaces for exploring societal change.

Deepening connection

Because contemporary vocabulary reflects current trends, discussions about the ways your learners describe the world can open the door to more meaningful conversations about what is important to them, the voices they pay attention to, and where they might benefit from taking a more critical stance.

Contemporary vocabulary can make lessons feel more relevant and dynamic. Discussing new terms like slop or skibidi connects directly with many students’ daily lives and experiences, engaging them in lessons in the process.

When learners see language as something alive and responsive to their world, their curiosity deepens.

In the classroom, then, aim to create more dialogue between and with your learners about language. Notice opportunities to discuss the language that you hear students using. Consider:

  • Asking learners to teach you words and phrases that you hear them using. These might be new and trendy, or they might be standard phrases that other learners in the class would benefit from learning about. What do they mean? What are people aiming for when they use these words and phrases?
  • Getting learners to explore different identities in their speaking and writing. How might a text change if they write it as if they were you? How does a presentation differ if they deliver it to a group of parents vs. a group of friends?

The objective is not to speak like your learners – to do so would be inauthentic – nor is it to judge language as good or bad, but to model curiosity. Show them how words can be a window to a world they don’t yet know, and demonstrate that learners’ thoughts, feelings and voices are valued and valid.

Making classroom time count

The second way in which we can draw a lesson from parasocial is to look at the word itself. As parasocial relationships take on greater importance for many people, the classroom takes on new value as a place to develop the skills needed to form more meaningful, reciprocal relationships. More than ever, learners need to master the hidden curriculum of interpersonal skills, as well as the content curriculum, in order to leave school with the capacity to make a positive impact in their communities.

Teachers can support the development of interpersonal skills by:

  • Incorporating pair and group work as a routine part of lessons. This kind of interaction might involve complete tasks, or it can take place on a more granular level, such as inviting learners to check their answers with a partner before whole-class feedback.
  • Teaching learners the skills they need to successfully work together in pairs or groups. Although this is often left to chance, all learners can benefit from structured guidance on how to work together, listen to one another, and reach collective agreement.
  • Setting guidelines for classroom interaction. Beyond the obvious expectations of respect and active listening, guidelines might include encouragement to invite more reticent learners for their thoughts, so that there is a classroom culture of openness and participation.

For more information on supporting learners with classroom interaction, visit oracycambridge.org

Ultimately, working with contemporary words and phrases is about more than vocabulary – it’s about developing an awareness of language, and through language, an awareness of culture. It helps learners see that, like all languages, English is not a fixed code to be mastered but a living system that changes with society. For educators, staying curious about new language trends can reinvigorate our own practice and connect us more closely with our students’ worlds.

Read more about the Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year here: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/news/view/parasocial-is-cambridge-dictionarys-word-of-the-year-2025/.

Matthew Ellman is Professional Learning and Development Quality Lead at Cambridge University Press & Assessment

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