'Ragebait' voted German Youth Word of the Year 2026

The word "ragebait" has been named Germany's Youth Word of the Year for 2026, the Langenscheidt publishing house announced on Saturday at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Like clickbait, ragebait is designed to grab attention - but by making people angry. Provocative claims, falsehoods and outrageous opinions fuel online outrage, driving up comments, likes and reach.

Linguist Jannis Androutsopoulos of the University of Hamburg notes that the term has moved beyond social media into everyday life - for example, when someone deliberately winds up their parents. 

"Words like these only really become youth slang when they move beyond their original context," he says.

Ragebait topped an online poll organized by Langenscheidt, which publishes dictionaries and other language reference works, securing 36.5% of the vote. Around 1 million young people took part in this year's competition.

The runners-up this year were the terms "peak," meaning the best of the best or a perfect 10, with 33.8%, and "crashout," which means when someone completely loses their cool, with 29.7%.

And what about parents borrowing a few trendy terms to sound cool? It depends on the execution, Androutsopoulos says. Some risk coming across as "cringe," while others pull it off.

"Das crazy," was last year's winner - a German-English expression used to convey surprise or disbelief.