Merriam-Webster Names 'Slop' 2025 Word of the Year, Highlighting Digital Economy Strain

Springfield, Tuesday, 16 December 2025.
On December 15, 2025, Merriam-Webster officially defined the digital economy’s saturation point by naming “slop” its Word of the Year. Redefining a 1700s term for “soft mud” to describe low-quality, mass-produced AI content, this selection signals a critical cultural shift where human attention is increasingly besieged by synthetic output. With reports indicating that nearly 75% of new web content now involves AI, the term serves as a defiant critique against the deluge of “junk”—from deepfakes to nonsensical advertising—currently devaluing online ecosystems.