The American Dialect Society Names 'Slop' Its 2025 Word of the Year

The American Dialect Society (ADS) has officially declared "slop" its Word of the Year for 2025. The announcement was made on January 9th in New Orleans, during the society's 36th annual words-of-the-year vote, held in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America's annual meeting. More than three hundred members participated in the selection process.

The term "slop" was chosen for its widespread adoption to describe low-quality, high-quantity content, primarily generated by artificial intelligence. While "AI slop" was a nominee in the 2024 vote, the 2025 selection reflects the word's evolution. It now often stands alone, with the AI context implicitly understood by the public. The ADS also recognized "slop" as a productive combining form, capable of spawning new compounds like "sloppunk," "slopification," and "friend slop."

From Pig Sty to Algorithm

Dr. Kelly Elizabeth Wright of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who presided over the voting session alongside ADS New Words Committee chair Ben Zimmer, commented on the term's linguistic flexibility. "Slop isn't a new word. It has moved from the pig sty, to the algorithm, and now forms new compounds such as sloppunk, slopification, and friend slop," Dr. Wright stated. "This productivity has no end in sight."

The selection underscores a significant shift in public discourse surrounding generative AI. For years, the conversation was dominated by hype around capabilities and potential. "Slop" represents a more grounded, and often critical, perspective focused on the downstream effects of cheap, automated content generation. It provides a concise label for the digital detritus filling social media feeds, image galleries, and comment sections.

What is "Slop"?

In the context of the 2025 vote, "slop" refers to:

• Content: Images, text, video, or audio generated by AI models that lacks artistic merit, factual accuracy, or human intent.
• Scale: The term inherently implies mass production. It is not about a single, flawed AI output, but the industrial-scale generation of mediocre material.
• Displacement: It describes content that crowds out human-created work, often driven by engagement algorithms or financial incentives like ad revenue.

The word's power lies in its connotation. "Slop" is inherently dismissive. It frames the content not as a failed attempt at quality, but as something intentionally low-effort, akin to feeding scraps to pigs. This reflects a growing weariness among internet users with the sheer volume of synthetic media.

A History of Language Observation

The American Dialect Society's vote is the longest-running of its kind in the United States. It is notable for being independent of commercial interests and is considered an authoritative, if informal, barometer of linguistic trends. The society, founded in 1889, includes linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, editors, and students.

The definition of "Word of the Year" is interpreted broadly as a "vocabulary item." This means it can be a single word, a phrase, a compound, or an affix. The only requirement is that the item has been newly prominent or notable within the past year. The vote is meant to highlight that language change is a normal, ongoing, and often entertaining process.

Other Candidates and Context

While "slop" was the eventual winner, it competed against other terms that captured the zeitgeist of 2025. The vote reflects a consensus among language experts on which term had the most significant cultural impact. In a parallel vote, the American Name Society selected "No Kings" as its Name of the Year for 2025.

The rise of "slop" as a standalone term marks a maturation in the public's relationship with AI. It is no longer a futuristic concept but a present-day reality with tangible effects on the information ecosystem. The word provides a tool for criticism, allowing people to articulate a specific kind of digital fatigue.

For linguists and observers of culture, the selection of "slop" is a clear signal. It shows that the most impactful words are often those that give us a new way to talk about a shared, and in this case, frustrating, experience. The term has successfully bridged the gap between technical jargon and common parlance, cementing its place in the lexicon of the mid-2020s.

Further information on the vote, including all candidates and vote tallies, can be found on the American Dialect Society's website.