The romance between pop sensation Taylor Swift and NFL player Travis Kelce has been cemented into the lexicon, as it partially influenced the Cambridge Dictionary's 2025 Word of the Year: ‘parasocial’.
The dictionary, which was published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment, defined the word as "an adjective involving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know."
The choice was influenced in great measure by the wildly disproportionate public response to the couple's announcement of an engagement last August, from fans who have never met them. The Cambridge Dictionary recorded a spike in lookups for ‘parasocial’ as media parsed the emotional fan reactions, with posts like "I'm not being parasocial about it" and talk of "a Swiftie being parasocial for 10 minutes straight."
Chief editor Colin McIntosh cited the word as an example of how "language changes," where a "specialist academic term has become mainstream" to capture the "2025 zeitgeist." Millions of fans felt a deep connection to Taylors confessional lyrics, leading to what psychologists describe as these ‘parasocial’ bonds.
The concept dates back to 1956, when sociologists first observed television viewers forming ‘para-social’ relationships with on-screen personalities. Today, the trend is amplified by social media and even artificial intelligence chatbots. Simone Schnall, Professor of Experimental Social Psychology at Cambridge, pointed out that while this can be a "traditional and healthy manifestation of fandom," it can also lead to "obsessive interpretations of lyrics" and a completely one-sided sense of trust.
Despite the intense scrutiny, the couple maintains that their relationship is normal. As Travis Kelce said in a profile, "When there is not a camera on us, we're just two people that are in love," adding it "happened very organically."
In a world where celebrity news feels personal, ‘parasocial’ perfectly sums up the intense emotional investment in the lives of stars like Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
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