From 'Blackout' to 'AI Agent': Your Vote Decides Portugal's 2025 Buzzword

Ten Finalists Vie for Portugal’s 2025 “Word of the Year”

Public voting has opened on the Palavra do Ano website, giving residents until 30 November to decide which term best sums up the national mood in 2025. The annual initiative, launched by publisher Porto Editora in 2009, functions as a linguistic barometer: the winning word is expected to echo the topics that dominated headlines and private conversations alike.

How the shortlist was built

More than 6,500 proposals sent by the public, combined with the most-searched entries in the Infopédia dictionary and continuous monitoring of press and social-media usage, produced this year’s line-up. No interim voting figures will be released; the champion will be announced in early December.

The ten contenders and why they matter in 2025

| Portuguese term | English rendering | Why it struck a nerve ||-----------------|-------------------|-----------------------|| agente (IA) | AI agent | Autonomous software capable of chaining tasks without constant human prompting moved from research labs into everyday tools, reigniting debate over the language used to describe machine “intelligence.” || apagão | blackout | On 28 April a grid collapse left large parts of Portugal and neighbouring Spain without power, paralysing transport and communications for hours and raising questions about energy resilience. || eleições | elections | Municipal ballots, party leadership races and the approaching European Parliament campaign kept the country in constant campaign mode. || elevador | elevator | A fatal malfunction on Lisbon’s iconic Elevador da Glória sparked a nationwide review of historic infrastructure safety. || flotilha | flotilla | A multinational aid convoy to Gaza — including a Portuguese delegation — drew wide coverage after the vessels were intercepted in the Mediterranean. || fogos | wildfires | With more than 250,000 hectares burned, 2025 ranks among the worst fire seasons this century, reviving discussion about land management and climate adaptation. || imigração | immigration | Record inflows of workers and students intensified debates on housing, integration and labour shortages. || moderado | moderate (rent cap) | Government moves to impose “renda moderada” ceilings on new leases turned this adjective into economic shorthand for Portugal’s housing dilemma. || perceção | perception | Polls revealed a growing gap between how citizens feel about crime, prices or growth and the statistical picture — making “perception vs. reality” a recurrent media theme. || tarefeiro | task worker | The rise of gig-economy platforms highlighted the fragile status of on-demand labour, embodied in the colloquial label for someone paid job-by-job. |

Linguists and labour analysts weigh in

Specialists say the pairing of “AI agent” and “task worker” encapsulates two simultaneous shifts: rapid automation and the atomisation of employment. Language researchers note that Portuguese is absorbing technical English terms at speed; some advocate greater investment in large language models trained in Lusophone data to prevent technological dependence on English.

A brief look back

Since the programme began, winning words have ranged from economic buzzwords such as “austeridade” (2011) to emotion-laden choices like “saudade” (2020). Last year’s victor, “liberdade,” marked the half-century of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution.

How to cast a vote

Anyone with internet access can participate by selecting a favourite on www.palavradoano.pt. The result will be revealed shortly after the voting window closes, offering a single word that—at least for the moment—captures Portugal’s collective experience of 2025.