‘Vibe coding’ named word of the year by Collins dictionary
“Vibe coding,” a word that essentially means using artificial intelligence (AI) to tell a machine what you want instead of coding it yourself, was named the Collins Word of the Year 2025.
Coined by OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy, the word refers to “an emerging software development that turns natural language into computer code using AI,” according to Collins Dictionary.
“It’s programming by vibes, not variables,” says Collins.
Lexicographers at Collins Dictionary monitor the 24 billion-word Collins Corpus, which draws from a range of media sources including social media, to create the annual list of new and notable words that reflect our ever-evolving language.
The 2025 shortlist highlights a range of words that have emerged in the past year to reflect the changing world around us.
“Broligarchy” made the list in a year that saw tech billionaire Elon Musk briefly at the heart of US President Donald Trump’s administration and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos cozying up to the president.
The word is defined as a small clique of very wealthy men who exert political influence.
New words linked to work and technology include “clanker,” a derogatory term for a computer, robot or source of artificial intelligence, and “HENRY,” an acronym for high earner, not rich yet.
Another is “taskmasking,” the act of giving a false impression that one is being productive in the workplace, while “micro-retirement” refers to a break taken between periods of employment to pursue personal interests.
