2025 was a big year that came with the presence of many new memes that have taken the internet by storm. These memes were trending on a variety of platforms, including TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. Here are the top 15 memes of 2025 that made the biggest impact on the internet.
15. Adrian explain our friend group
This meme refers to a video of a person, presumably a high schooler, named Adrian, being prompted to explain their friend group to the camera. Adrian tells the camera that they “are Ohio,” while his other friend starts singing a version of “Swag Like Ohio” by Lil B.. Adrian continues to say that they also have “a pinch of Florida and Arkansas,” and that the friend group is chaotic. The video gained over 3.5 million views in five days and is a very prominent meme in the brainrot genre. Many internet users deemed it “cringe,” while some admired how happy the friend group seemed, resulting in a multitude of edits and remixes of the video.
14. Papa squid game
The “papa squid game” meme is a picture of actor Lee Byung Hun, who played the frontman in “Squid Game,” holding a baby version of actor Lee Jung Jae, who played player 456. The “papa squid game” meme was first spread on TikTok in January 2025. After the third season of Squid Game was released in June of 2025, it experienced a big boost in popularity. The meme is not a reference from “Squid Game” itself, but it is one where everyone is in on the joke, but no one ever actually explains it.
13. Laughing baby
The “Say you swear” meme features an AI-generated baby rotoscoped onto a video of a popular Chinese influencer holding back his laugh. The meme was first used in early November 2025, but is now being used more with influencers in December. It went viral on many social media platforms, including TikTok and Instagram. The meme has also been used as gifs, captions and image macros, often used to express someone’s shock.
12. Gurt: yo
Gurt: yo is a pun on the word “yogurt.” It depicts a conversation of someone saying “yogurt,” and a character named “Gurt” responding with “yo.” The joke was introduced by X users in 2012, but did not gain widespread acclaim until 2025, when TikTok user Abuo used the text as an overlay on a video of baby versions of the Penguins of Madagascar. It went viral on TikTok and other social media platforms in March and April 2025, with Gurt: yo commonly being used in silly conversational videos.
11. Clock strikes 12
The clock strikes 12 meme originated from a TikTok video where TikToker Ellie Shaw made up a short, intense verse in a British accent for an Open Verse Challenge from an artist named Dax. Her delivery of the verse and the dramatic lyrics quickly went viral, becoming a popular meme and template for many animations. The TikTok was released in early December 2022, but became popular in October 2025. This gave the video new viewers, who began changing its contents into a viral meme.
10. Rabbit with clock
This image was posted to DeviantArt in 2012 by artist Luz Tapia. It displays the chronically late White Rabbit from “Alice in Wonderland” holding a pocket watch and pointing at it with an intense stare. The meme is usually used to signify that time is running out, often in a more comedic sense. For example, c3desm, an X user, posted the image with the caption “what Sunday feels like.”
9. Standing on Business
The meme originates from a video filmed in Malibu, where an upset Justin Bieber confronted paparazzi who were blocking his car. In the heated exchange, he awkwardly combined 2 slang phrases, “clocking” and “standing on business”, leading to widespread mockery and remixes on various social media platforms. In this context, he intended to express that the paparazzi didn’t understand that he was serious about being a good husband and father and setting his boundaries to protect his privacy. His misuse of the terms, particularly the phrasing of “it’s not clocking to you,” created an uncanny effect that the internet found very meme-worthy.
8. I Left My Home
The “I Left My Home” meme is a widespread internet trend based on a humorous military cadence popularized by veteran Jonathan Fleming. The meme uses catchy rhythms and exaggerated performances to create relatable content about leaving home for military service. The meme was first released in 2021, but gained popularity in September 2025. The core of the meme is the song’s repetitive structure, which lists every family member and even pets (daddy, mama, brother, sister, dog, cat and fish) who were “home when you left.”
7. Jet 2 Holiday
This meme came from an audio from a UK Airline ad, which cheerfully said “Nothing beats a Jet2Holiday!” over a short sound bite of Jess Glynne’s “Hold my Hand.” The meme became a huge internet sensation in 2025, most prominently on TikTok when users started using the audio with vacation videos of things going wrong as ironic humor. The most-liked video that uses the Jet2Holiday sound shows a person opening a large curtain in a hotel room only to reveal a comically small window.
6. Queen never cry
The meme originates from a webtoon panel featuring a mother and her newborn baby. In the panel, a nurse who helped deliver the baby hands it over to the mother, but the baby instantly starts crying. Immediately after this, the mother whispers into the baby’s ear, “Queen never cry.” This is then followed by the baby putting on a blank and stern facial expression. The meme has gained popularity through various social media platforms, including TikTok, X and Instagram. The phrase has become a symbol of emotional resilience, and it is used in an exaggerated and humorous form to represent one who is always composed, even in critical situations.
5. Madame Morrible/Wicked Witch
During various interviews promoting the film “Wicked: For Good,” (released in November 2025) actress Michelle Yeoh, who played Madame Morrible in the movie, shared a personal discovery. “Madame Morrible, MM, flip it around, Wicked Witch!” While saying this, Yeoh used her fingers to make the letters “MM” and turned them upside down to create “WW.” This line became a popular catchphrase for Yeoh, and she suggested that the term “Wicked Witch” foreshadowed her character’s true evil nature in Wicked. The clip garnered over 370,000 views in one month on TikTok, and many internet users used the viral sound in their videos.
4. Hyperpigmentation
The “Hyperpigmentation” meme, which originated from a video filmed in 2019, became popular in early 2025. The video features a woman named Sonia Tiebi and her daughter having an amusing conversation about a rather crude drawing that Tiebi’s daughter made of her. She is reluctant to show her mother the drawing, but when she does, Tiebi rushes to tell her that “it is fantastic” and that “it’s so nice.” She then points to the large dot on her face and adds the famous quote, “What’s that? Is that hyperpigmentation?” Since its rise to popularity in 2025, the Hyperpigmentation meme has garnered over 5 million views on YouTube.
3. Speed face
The speed face meme refers to a viral reaction video of streamer IShowSpeed briefly pursing his lips and frowning before settling into a serene smile with his eyes closed. The video stems from a livestream, where a fan makes a comment and Speed tries not to burst out laughing. The clip of Speed trying not to laugh started in early 2022, and has been used as a reaction photo in 2025 on social media platforms like TikTok, X and Instagram.
2. Italian brainrot
Italian Brainrot refers to a series of internet memes that were created in early 2025 with photos of absurd and surrealist AI-generated creatures who were given fake Italian names. They typically consist of animal-object hybrids and are accompanied by an Italian man’s narration of seemingly nonsensical words. Some of the most popular Italian Brainrot characters include Tralalero Tralala, a three-legged shark in blue Nike sneakers, Tung Tung Tung Sahur, an anthropomorphic wooden plank holding a bat, and Ballerina Cappucina, a ballerina with a coffee mug for a head. Additionally, fans on the internet have created various dramatic stories featuring these characters, further building on their popularity.
1. 67
The term “67,” which became wildly popular among Generation Alpha in 2025, originated from the rap song “Doot Doot (6 7)” by Skrilla, which features the lyric “six seven” repeatedly. Internet users began using the song to create edits of basketball player LaMelo Ball, who is 6 feet 7 inches tall. The phrase seems to hold no meaning, other than being a funny, brain-rotted interjection amongst younger generations. It is usually accompanied by a distinct up-and-down hand motion.