Taylor Swift's impact on culture continues to grow, with the Cambridge Dictionary crediting the global pop star and her fanbase for inspiring its 2025 word of the year: "parasocial."
Per Mirror, the designation follows Swift's heightened visibility, including her 2023 Time Person of the Year honor and her widely followed relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce.
The dictionary said the choice reflects a rising trend in how fans engage with celebrities in the digital era. Cambridge University Press & Assessment's statement. They said, "Millions of fans related to Taylor Swift's confessional lyrics about dating, heartbreak and desire, leading to what psychologists describe as 'parasocial' bonds with stars."
Cambridge noted that interest in the term surged as Swift and Kelce's engagement became one of the year's most-discussed celebrity moments. It said, "When Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement, many fans felt a deep connection to the singer and American footballer, even though most had never met them."
According to the dictionary, "parasocial" means "involving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know, a character in a book, film, TV series, etc, or an artificial intelligence." Scholars have long documented such relationships, dating back to the term's first use by University of Chicago sociologists in 1956.
People reported that parasocial relationships are neither inherently good nor bad, according to experts, but rather a longstanding part of celebrity culture amplified by social media's constant access to public figures. In recent years, fans of many major artists—including Swifties—have used the term to call out or reflect on their own behavior.
Colin McIntosh with the Cambridge Dictionary said that the rise of the word reflects broader cultural shifts. He added, "Parasocial captures the 2025 zeitgeist. It's a great example of how language changes
McIntosh concludes, "What was once a specialist academic term has become mainstream. Millions of people are engaged in parasocial relationships; many more are simply intrigued by their rise."
He also noted that searches for the term have sharply increased. He said, "The data reflects that, with the Cambridge Dictionary website seeing spikes in lookups for 'parasocial.' The language around parasocial phenomena is evolving fast, as technology, society and culture shift and mutate."
Parasocial connections with celebrities - taking Justin Bieber as one example - have been studied before, and experts say such connections have become even more prevalent in the age of influencers and always-on media.
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