‘Vibe coding’ named word of the year by Collins Dictionary

If you’ve ever wanted to create your own computer program but never learned to code, you can try “vibration coding.”

The Collins Dictionary word of the year, which is confusingly made up of two words, is the art of creating an app or website by describing it to artificial intelligence (AI) rather than writing programming code manually.

The term was coined in February by OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy, who came up with the name to represent how AI can allow some programmers to “forget that the code exists” and “give in to vibrations” while creating a computer program.

It was one of 10 words on a short list to reflect the mood, language and concerns of 2025.

By giving an AI tool a simple description like “make me a program that schedules my weekly meals,” people can use “vibration coding” to create basic applications without any prior programming knowledge.

More complicated tools still require skill, but practice has opened up the creation of digital platforms to non-coders.

As many have discovered, it is not perfect, with no guarantee that the code will actually work or be bug-free.

Alex Beecroft, CEO of Collins, said the term “perfectly captures how language evolves alongside technology.”

Not all words necessarily first emerged in 2025, but Collins decided that this was the year they became popular.

For example, “clanker,” a term used to describe robots in Star Wars games and movies since the mid-2000s, made the list after it went viral on TikTok in July when people shared their frustrations with the AI-powered machines.

While “aura farming” (people doing things to look good, often when they know they are being filmed) was first used in January 2024, but became increasingly popular over the course of 2025.

And the acronym “broligarchy” took off in 2024 to describe the owners of the world’s largest technology companies and their alleged political influence, and was frequently used in 2025 following the appearance of many of the bosses at the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

The other definitions on the short list were:

• Biohackingthe activity of altering the body’s natural processes in an attempt to improve health and longevity.

• Coolcationa vacation in a place with a cool climate

• Glaze, praise or flatter someone excessively or undeservedly

• HenryAn acronym for “high-income person, not yet rich,” or a person who has not accumulated substantial wealth through high income.

• Microretirement, a break between periods of employment to pursue personal interests

• Task maskingthe act of giving a false impression that one is being productive in the workplace