A new, critical nickname for the powerful leaders of the tech industry has been cemented in the English language. “Broligarchy,” a portmanteau of “tech bro” and “oligarchy,” has been included in Collins Dictionary’s official 2025 list of new and notable words, reflecting a growing public scrutiny of Silicon Valley’s immense power.
The word gained significant traction after the high-profile attendance of major tech company owners at political events, such as Donald Trump’s inauguration. Its inclusion on the list indicates a shift in public perception, moving from celebrating “tech bros” as innovators to questioning their status as a new class of powerful, and perhaps unaccountable, oligarchs.
While “broligarchy” captured the power dynamics of the tech world, the official Word of the Year came from its primary product: artificial intelligence. The top honor went to “vibe coding,” defined as the process of using natural language to have an AI generate computer code. This term was coined by OpenAI’s Andrej Karpathy and signifies a new, more accessible era of software development.
The juxtaposition of these two terms is stark. “Vibe coding” represents the democratizing promise of technology, while “broligarchy” refers to the concentrated power of those who control it. This tension is further highlighted by “clanker,” another list-maker, which is a derogatory, viral term used to express public frustration with AI.
The 2025 list was rounded out by other reflections of our time, tracked by the 24-billion-word Collins Corpus. These included “biohacking” (health optimization), “Henry” (high earner, not rich yet), “aura farming” (curating a cool persona), and “coolcation” (a cold-climate holiday).