The Cambridge Dictionary has announced “parasocial” as its 2025 word of the year, defining it as the sense of connection someone feels toward a famous person they do not personally know.
Psychologists note that the rise of one-sided parasocial relationships has reshaped modern fandom and celebrity culture. For example, when pop star Taylor Swift and U.S. footballer Travis Kelce announced their engagement earlier this year, many fans felt deeply connected to the couple despite having never met them.
Experts also point to the growing parasocial bonds people form with online influencers and even artificial intelligence chatbots.
Colin McIntosh of the Cambridge Dictionary said, “Parasocial captures the 2025 zeitgeist. It’s a great example of how language changes. What was once a specialist academic term has become mainstream.”
He added that millions of people now engage in parasocial relationships, and the dictionary has seen spikes in online searches for the word. “The language around parasocial phenomena is evolving fast as technology, society and culture continue to shift. From celebrities to chatbots, parasocial trends are fascinating for anyone interested in the evolution of language.”
The term “parasocial” dates back to 1956, when two University of Chicago sociologists observed that television viewers developed parasocial relationships with TV personalities—relationships that resembled the bonds they formed with real family and friends. The rapid growth of television brought the faces of actors directly into people’s homes, making them feel like part of everyday life.
Simone Schnall, professor of experimental social psychology at the University of Cambridge, called “parasocial” an “inspired choice” for word of the year. She said the rise of parasocial relationships has transformed how people experience fandom, celebrity, and—with the advent of AI—how they interact online.
“We’ve entered an age where many people form unhealthy and intense parasocial relationships with influencers,” she said. “This creates a sense that they ‘know’ these personalities, can trust them, and owe them extreme loyalty—yet it is completely one-sided.”
Schnall added that as trust in mainstream media erodes, people increasingly look to individual online personalities as authorities. Spending hours consuming their content leads some to treat influencers like close friends, family members or even cult figures.
While she acknowledged that traditional and healthier forms of fandom still exist—such as admiration for stars like Taylor Swift—these too can spark obsessive lyric interpretations and intense online debates.
She also noted that parasocial trends have taken on new dimensions with the rise of AI tools. Many people treat chatbots like ChatGPT as “friends,” sources of emotional support, or substitutes for therapy. “This is an illusion of a relationship,” she warned, adding that young people are particularly vulnerable.
The Cambridge Dictionary added around 6,000 new words this year, including “delulu” (short for delusional), the nonsense term “skibidi,” and “tradwife,” meaning traditional wife.
Other notable terms include “slop,” used to describe very low-quality internet content, especially that produced by AI, and “memeify,” meaning to turn an event, image or person into a meme that spreads rapidly online.
