From Pandemic to AI: The Words That Defined 2020 to 2025

A look back at the official “Words of the Year” from major dictionaries from 2020 to 2025 reveals a vivid timeline of global cultural and technological shifts.

The pandemic era was encapsulated by terms like “pandemic,” “lockdown,” and “quarantine” in 2020, followed by “vaccine,” “vax,” and “perseverance” in 2021 as the world sought solutions and resilience.

By 2022 and 2023, the focus turned inward and technological, with words like “goblin mode,” “gaslighting,” “AI,” and “authentic” reflecting social retreat and the rise of artificial intelligence.

The latest selections for 2025, such as “slop” (low-quality AI content), “vibe coding,” “parasocial,” and “rage bait,” highlight the deepening integration of AI into daily life and the specific behaviors of an increasingly online, algorithm-driven society, painting a collective portrait of a decade defined by crisis, adaptation, and digital transformation.