If you felt a personal connection with a celebrity this year, chances are you weren't alone.
This feeling led Cambridge Dictionary choose “parasocial” as the word of 2025. Parasocial is defined as “involving or relating to the connection that one feels between oneself and an unknown famous person, a character in a book, movie, TV series, etc., or an artificial intelligence.”
“It's an academic term that has only been around for about 70 years but has now become mainstream,” said Colin McIntosh, lexical program manager at Cambridge Dictionaries.
“Millions of people are involved in parasocial relationships; many others are simply intrigued by their growth,” McIntosh said in a statement. “The data reflects this, with the Cambridge Dictionaries website seeing a surge in searches for the word ‘parasocial’.”
A recent example of this occurred when pop star Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce announced their engagement. Many fans have been captivated by Swift's lyrics for years. celebrated this moment despite not actually knowing her or Kelsey.
But parasocial relationships can become problematic, says Simone Schnall, professor of experimental social psychology at the University of Cambridge.
“We have entered an era where many people are forming unhealthy and intense parasocial relationships with influencers,” Schnall said. “This leads to the feeling that people “know” those with whom they form parasocial bonds, that they can trust them, and even extreme forms of loyalty. However, this is completely one-sided.”
The trend is also evolving to include artificial intelligence.
“Parasocial trends are taking on a new dimension as many people view AI tools like ChatGPT as “friends” offering positive affirmations or as a means of therapy. This is an illusion of relationships and groupthink, and we know that young people can be susceptible to this,” Schnall said.
The Cambridge Dictionary statement follows “67” on Dictionary.com. like the word of 2025.
