‘Vibe coding’ named Collins Dictionary Word of the Year. Here’s what it means…

Collins Dictionary has named its 2025 Word of the Year – vibe coding.

Although two words, it was chosen by the UK-published dictionary at a time when AI plays an increasingly important role in daily life.

Vibe coding refers to the process of turning natural language into computer code using artificial intelligence (AI).

Collins defines it as “the use of artificial intelligence prompted by natural language to assist with the writing of computer code”.

Other words included in the shortlist were clanker, broligarchy, henry (an acronym for high earner not rich yet), task-masking, and micro-retirement. 

To listen to world news correspondent Adam Gilchrist in conversation with 702’s Bongani Bingwa, click the audio player below (skip to 3.05):