The term ‘parasocial’ has been named the word of the year for 2025 – but what does it actually mean? Here’s everything you need to know about the concept and how it shows up in relationships
‘Parasocial’ has officially been named the Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year for 2025 after a huge rise in people searching for the term.
According to Cambridge University Press and Assessment (CUP), there were two major showbiz moments that triggered the popularity of the word.
Lily Allen dropped her revenge breakup album West End Girl, leaning into public curiosity about her love life, and people started using “parasocial” to describe the way fans were following every detail. Lily’s album is built on personal storytelling – reflecting on divorce, new beginnings, and her relationship with David Harbour – leading people to naturally feel invested, even if they had no real connection to her.
Then Taylor Swift and American footballer Travis Kelce announced their engagement and the word exploded again. Their relationship has been dissected online from every angle. Fans were convinced they “knew” the couple because Taylor’s songs feel so intimate, and Travis is so publicly affectionate. Majority have never met them – but they still felt personally connected to every update.
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“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. Lily Allen’s ‘breakup album’ West End Girl leant into parasocial interest in her love life,” the Cambridge University Press and Assessment (CUP) said.
“The spontaneity, imperfection and confessional nature of podcast hosts have been said to replace real friends and to catalyse parasocial relationships,” they added. “The emergence of parasocial relationships with AI bots saw people treat ChatGPT as a confidant, friend or even romantic partner. These led to emotionally meaningful – and in some cases troubling – connections for users, and concerns about the consequences.”
The word ‘parasocial’ has dominated conversations across pop culture, from album releases to celebrity relationships. But many people still don’t know the meaning of the word, sp we’ve put together everything you need to know, from the definition to how it shows up in relationships.
Both moments ended up shaping the trend so much that the term became Cambridge Dictionary’s official word of the year.
“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. Lily Allen’s ‘breakup album’ West End Girl leant into parasocial interest in her love life,” said Cambridge University Press and Assessment (CUP).
What does parasocial mean?
The word actually dates all the way back to 1956, when University of Chicago sociologists Donald Horton and Richard Wohl noticed television viewers were engaging in ‘para-social’ relationships with on-screen personalities – meaning viewers were forming “real” family-and-friend-style connections with characters they didn’t actually know.
They noted how the rapidly expanding medium of television brought actors’ faces directly into people’s homes, making them feel like regular fixtures in viewers’ lives, CUP said.
What is a parasocial interaction?
A parasocial interaction usually happens online or while watching TV. It’s when a person develops a one-sided sense of intimacy, connection and familiarity with a media figure, celebrity, influencer or online personality.
These interactions happen through consuming someone’s content, where the individual creates the illusion of a reciprocal relationship – even though the other party has no idea who the viewer is. Over time, these interactions can develop into a full parasocial relationship.
What is a parasocial relationship?
A parasocial relationship follows from the term parasocial: a completely one-sided relationship with someone the person doesn’t personally know, such as a celebrity, influencer or fictional character. But more recently, parasocial relationships are seen heavily with AI bots.
“The spontaneity, imperfection and confessional nature of podcast hosts have been said to replace real friends and to catalyse parasocial relationships. The emergence of parasocial relationships with AI bots saw people treat ChatGPT as a confidant, friend or even romantic partner. These led to emotionally meaningful – and in some cases troubling – connections for users, and concerns about the consequences.” CUP added.
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While most of the time parasocial interactions are harmless, we’ve also seen how they can escalate. Earlier this year, a fan-made seven-part series about Hailey Bieber went viral, largely fuelled by the long-running online narrative around her and Selena Gomez. The “documentary” was built on speculation, but it showed just how far parasocial storytelling can go when people feel deeply invested in someone else’s relationship.
At its core, “parasocial” just shows how blurred the line has become between online life and real life. We’re consuming people so closely that it can feel like we actually know them even when we don’t. And as celebrities, influencers and even AI bots become bigger parts of our daily routines, parasocial bonds are only going to get stronger. The real question now is whether we’ll become more aware of them, or let them shape how we see relationships without even realising.
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