rage-bait

What does rage-bait mean?

Rage-bait (also spelled as ragebait and rage bait) is content (usually, but not always, found online) that tries to provoke anger or outrage, as a means of gaining attention or making money. The word is also used as a verb (“to make intentionally provocative or inflammatory statements”).

Rage-bait often refers to inflammatory content posted online for the purpose of gaining ad revenue through clicks, but it can also refer to trolling behavior, in which someone says or posts something offensive simply for the enjoyment of eliciting a strong reaction.

Examples of rage-bait

At its core, rage bait is backed by algorithms which seek to keep users scrolling, responding and consuming the content, which in turn results in the social media platform profiting. In this way outrage is monetised by the social media platforms.
— Shatadi Phoshoko, Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg, South Africa), 11 Jun. 2025

West’s song is a bleak cut even beyond the ragebait title.
— August Brown, The Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2025

Rage bait article worked, and giving it more traffic by sharing. Bump up that click through rate for ad revenue
— Reddit.com, 20 Mar. 2025

Where does rage-bait come from?

Rage-bait appears to have sprung up in the 2010s, formed in similar fashion to the earlier clickbait. It combines rage (“violent and uncontrolled anger”) with bait (“to try to make angry with criticism or insults”).

They are also returning to prominence in the media with Josephine convincing her father to give her a newspaper column, though she needs some advice from her callous parent on the nuances of writing rage-bait.
— Daniel Herborn, The Age (Melbourne, Australia), 27 Feb. 2016

I say it seems because maybe I'm falling for the rage bait in the papers which delight in stories of people suing their mother because they got a cold from a bed that wasn't aired properly or suing a baby who wouldn't smile for them.
— Irish Examiner (Cork, Ireland), 3 Apr. 2017

How is rage-bait used?

Rage-bait is slang, but not vulgar, and is found in a variety of types of writing.