“Vibe coding” was chosen as word of the year by the Collins dictionary. The term, created by Andrej Karpathy in February 2025, refers to the use of Artificial Intelligence to facilitate software development.
The Collins dictionary defines “vibe coding” as “the use of artificial intelligence guided by natural language to assist in writing computer code” Instead of writing code from scratch, you tell the AI what you want and it takes care of the rest.
Despite its popularity, the term generates debate among users, being considered by some “revolutionary” and by others “reckless”, depending on the point of view.
This choice highlights the relationship between humans and technology, as well as the way in which Artificial Intelligence is increasingly present in our daily lives — both in professional tasks and in day-to-day activities.
What is “vibe coding”?
“Vibe coding” means programming with the help of Artificial Intelligence. The programmer tells the AI what he wants and lets it create the codethen limiting yourself to reviewing and making adjustments, if necessary — without needing to write your reasoning line by line.
The term was created by Andrej Karpathy in a publication on the X network, where he describes the process as a moment in which the programmer “enters the vibration, embraces the exponentials and forgets that the code exists”.
Why is “vibe coding” the word of 2025?
The Collins dictionary chose “vibe coding” as word of the year for illustrating how Natural language and Artificial Intelligence are transforming our relationship with computers.
Collins managing director Alex Beecroft told the newspaper that the term reflects how AI is making programming more intuitive, accessible and linked to human creativity.
What were the other candidates for “word of the year”?
Other terms considered for the title were:
- aura farming – cultivate an image of charisma that, in fact, does not correspond to reality;
- clanker – pejorative term for computers, robots and artificial intelligence, inspired by Star Wars: The Clone Wars;
- glaze – flatter or praise someone exaggeratedly;
- Henry – abbreviation for high earner, not rich yet, designating workers with high incomes but who have not yet reached (and may never reach) wealth;
- coolcation – holidays in cold climate destinations to escape the effects of climate change;
- taskmasking – pretend productivity at work;
- micro-retirement – taking career breaks to enjoy personal interests rather than waiting for retirement;
- broligarchy – term used to describe “tech bros”, such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, popularized after their presence at Donald Trump’s inauguration;
- biohacking – practice that seeks to alter the body’s natural functions to promote well-being and increase longevity.
