"Parasocial" involves or relates to a "connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know, a character in a book, film, TV series, etc," per the Cambridge University Press & Assessment
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's love story is now influencing the dictionary.
Cambridge Dictionary just announced its 2025 word of the year, revealing it was partially inspired by Swift's lyrics and her much-talked-about engagement to Kelce back in August.
The world is "parasocial" -- which involves or relates "to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know, a character in a book, film, TV series, etc. or an artificial intelligence," per the Cambridge University Press & Assessment, which is the publishing house of the U.K.'s University of Cambridge.
A news release read, "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."
"When Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement, many fans felt a deep connection to the singer and American footballer, even though most had never met them," the post stated.
"The spontaneity, imperfection and confessional nature of podcast hosts have been said to replace real friends and to catalyse parasocial relationships," it added.
Cambridge Dictionary chief editor, Colin McIntosh, said: "Parasocial captures the 2025 zeitgeist. It's a great example of how language changes. What was once a specialist academic term has become mainstream," per the release.
"Millions of people are engaged in parasocial relationships; many more are simply intrigued by their rise. The data reflects that, with the Cambridge Dictionary website seeing spikes in lookups for 'parasocial,'" McIntosh added.
He continued, "The language around parasocial phenomena is evolving fast, as technology, society and culture shift and mutate: from celebrities to chatbots, parasocial trends are fascinating for those who are interested in the development of language."
The term "parasocial" dates back to 1956, when University of Chicago sociologists Donald Horton and Richard Wohl "observed television viewers engaged in 'para-social' relationships with on-screen personalities, resembling those they formed with 'real' family and friends," according to the University of Cambridge publisher.
"They noted how the rapidly expanding medium of television brought the faces of actors directly into viewers' homes, making them fixtures in people's lives," the site added.
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Simone Schnall, Professor of Experimental Social Psychology at the University of Cambridge, pointed out that people have a tendency to "assume" an "influencer" is "trustworthy" when they have so many followers, per the release.
"This leads to a sense that people 'know' those they form parasocial bonds with, can trust them, and even to extreme forms of loyalty. Yet it's completely one-sided," Schnall said.
"There's a more traditional and healthy manifestation of fandom as people develop parasocial ties with stars like Taylor Swift who are exceptionally good at what they do, but this can also lead to obsessive interpretations of lyrics and intense online discussions about their meanings and what they mean for fans, as well as Swift herself," she added, seemingly referencing the musician's noted love of leaving Easter Eggs for fans to find in her music.
While speaking in an interview with Z100's Elvis Duran Show in October following the release of her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, Swift admitted that while some fan theories are "based in absolutely nothing close to reality," there "are some that are so fun when they figure them out."