"Ragebait" Is the Youth Word of the Year 2026 – What It Means

Die Presse

Lean Right

Factuality

Ownership

Germany has voted and the English word for deliberately placed indignation "Ragebait" has won, closely followed by other anglizisms such as "Peak" and "Crashout".

Kronen Zeitung

Right

Factuality

Ownership

Online contributions that are designed only to generate anger and conflict – or simply "Ragebait". The term has now been chosen as the youth word of the year 2026.

Deutsche Welle

Tagesschau

Center

View article

Reposted by

Tagesschau

Center

Factuality

Ownership

It was a close race of the top three candidates for the youth word of the year: "Ragebait" won the vote just before "Peak" and "crashout".

Berliner Morgenpost

Hamburger Abendblatt

View article

Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung

View article

Thüringer Allgemeine

View article

Ostthüringer Zeitung

View article

tlz.de

View article

wr.de

View article

ikz-online.de

View article

braunschweiger-zeitung.de

View article

Westfalenpost

Center

View article

nrz.de

View article

+10 Reposted by 10 other sources

Lean Right

Factuality

Ownership

Three English-language terms stood in the final round on the youth word of the year. "Ragebait" is a social media term that makes the race.

Spiegel

Lean Left

Factuality

Ownership

In a vote by Langenscheidt-Verlag, the term »Ragebait« has been chosen as the youth word of the year 2026. In places two and three: »Peak« and »crashout«.