US: Our digital lives have grown so connected that the line between real and imagined relationships is fading fast. In 2025, more people formed emotional bonds with celebrities, influencers, and even digital companions they have never met. Reflecting this major cultural shift, the Cambridge Dictionary has chosen parasocial as its Word of the Year.
The term describes a one-way relationship in which someone feels close to a public figure, fictional character, or digital companion. These relationships have become common as social media brings famous personalities into everyday life and as digital tools with lifelike personalities become more widely used.
Interest in the word jumped on June 30, 2025, after YouTube streamer IShowSpeed blocked a fan who called himself his number one parasocial. Searches continued to rise as people debated whether influencers and companies take advantage of these emotional bonds.
Public concern grew further when reports warned about how digital companions may affect children’s mental health. By September, the dictionary updated its definition to include ties formed with digital companions.
The trend is visible across pop culture. When singer Taylor Swift announced her engagement to footballer Travis Kelce, many fans reacted with deep personal emotion, even though they had never met the couple.
The Cambridge Dictionary #WordOfTheYear2025 is … 🥁
“parasocial” (adjective)
🏆 Find out more about #Parasocial: https://t.co/9OB4s9IUfz #Parasocial #CambridgeWOTY #WordOfTheYear2025 #CambridgeDictionary pic.twitter.com/5D0ceCu5qz
— Cambridge Dictionary (@CambridgeWords) November 18, 2025
Digital tools have also become part of these relationships, with many users treating chat-based platforms as friends or confidants, sparking questions about the effect of such attachments.
The idea of parasocial relationships dates back to 1956, when sociologists Donald Horton and Richard Wohl studied how television viewers felt connected to the personalities they watched on screen.
Today, the internet has expanded these bonds even further, with followers growing attached to YouTubers and influencers and closely tracking every detail of their lives.
Along with parasocial, several other words left a mark in 2025. These include slop for poor-quality online content, pseudonymization for replacing personal data with meaningless labels, vibey for upbeat atmospheres, breathwork for controlled breathing practices, doomspending for emotional overspending, and memeify for turning moments into viral memes.
