From 'Ragebait' to 'Aura Farming': The Gen-Z slang that defined 2025

In 2025, our algorithms were Gen-Z coded. Their slang slipped into captions, comments, café reels, and suddenly, everyone — brands, celebrities, and yes, your favourite influencer — was speaking the same slightly unhinged language.

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Here’s a breakdown of the Gen Z slang, phrases, and trends that defined 2025, and how they showed up on our screens.

'Ragebait': Say something terrible, let the algorithm do the rest

Take 'ragebait', arguably the defining word of the year, and my personal favourite. Entire social media pages were built on it. It was even crowned Oxford's word of the year for 2025. Post a deliberately terrible take, disappear for a few hours, come back to six-figure views and a comment section doing unpaid labour. Dubai wasn’t immune. “Matcha is overrated,” someone would declare, filmed against a skyline they absolutely knew would trigger people. The rage was the point. And Gen-Z knew it — clocked it (more on it later) — but still engaged, because the algorithm rewards mess.

'Aura' is a currency, and everyone’s trying to farm it

Then there was 'aura'. It could be gained, lost, and farmed. A celebrity does something incredible or stylish? Aura points gained. If someone trips over and falls while being recorded, they'd lose their aura points. Influencers, meanwhile, mastered aura farming: helping strangers on camera, or casually existing in luxury spaces as if it were accidental. And then there was a stranger who took over the internet by storm. All he did was dance on a boat, and next thing we know? He's everywhere, the aura farming boat kid.

Delulu is the new manifestation (Self-awareness optional)

Somewhere between manifestation culture and burnout, delulu stopped being a joke and became a strategy. Being delusional — but self-aware about it — felt safer than being realistic. “I’m being delulu,” became code for hoping anyway. Vision boards, soft-launched life updates, and skyline-backed affirmations flooded feeds. The vibe was aspirational, slightly unhinged, and deeply relatable.

Discipline got a rebrand with Lock In

Of course, not everyone was romanticising life. Many were choosing to lock in instead. After years of soft life aesthetics, 2025 quietly ushered in discipline, but with a term. Early gym sessions. Productivity reels. “No excuses” captions filmed before sunrise. Locking in was loud and intentional.

If it’s not giving, we clock it immediately

Meanwhile, Gen-Z’s tolerance for nonsense hit an all-time low. Everything was either giving or it wasn’t. A campaign was giving forced relatability. An outfit was giving old money. The phrase clock it became a reflex, especially when brands tried too hard to sound young. The comments never missed.

The rise of Matcha Girlie(s)

And then there were the aesthetics that felt like personalities. The matcha girlie, in particular, thrived in 2025. Pilates mornings, gym fits, quiet luxury cafés, and a perfectly whisked matcha latte — all filmed, of course. Dubai’s café culture gave this archetype prime space, and the matcha girlies showed up, tripods ready. Bonus aura points if you add a padel court in the carousel post.

Chopped, Cooked, and Glazed

But Gen-Z humour never let things get too serious. If something was bad, it was chopped. If a situation was beyond saving, it was cooked. If praise went too far, it was glazing. And if someone older tried too hard to keep up? 'Unc' behaviour. Gone are the days when we use sentences.

Ate, Left No Crumbs, and Somehow… 67

Pop culture fed into this ecosystem effortlessly. Fashion moments that ate and left no crumbs. Shah Rukh Khan made his Met Gala debut, ate, and left no crumbs. Performances dissected in real time. Celebrities gaining and losing aura faster than ever. Even numbers became jokes — like '67', a perfectly meaningless pair of numbers that make no sense and have no literal meaning. Just don't utter the numbers when you're among the young ones.

Honourable mention? Looksmaxxing. Basically, optimising physical appearance through grooming, fitness, fashion, or skincare. You'd find it among TikTok routines, men’s grooming creators, and “before/after” glow-up edits.

So are we ready for the great 'lock in' of 2026?

Husain Rizvi

husain@khaleejtimes.com

Husain Rizvi is a Senior Features Writer who covers entertainment and lifestyle stories and has a profound interest in tech (games) and sports. When he’s not working, you can find him at the gym, or finishing a boss fight in a video game.