Top 50 Online Dating Terms

  1. airplane mode - A setting on cell phones, smartphones and mobile devices that prevent it from sending...
  2. bae - What is bae? It’s an acronym that means Before Anyone Else. Known as online jargon,...
  3. baeless - One who is single.
  4. banksying - It's when you're going to break-up with someone and decide to plan an elaborate act...
  5. benching - Someone who is kept on the sides just in case it doesn't work out with the person...
  6. bird boxed - An online dating expression that describes being blind to just how bad your partner...
  7. bonk - It used to mean to have sex or hook up in generation x lingo, but in generation y...
  8. breadcrumbing - Online jargon that's a play on the breadcrumb nav menu, it means giving a person just...
  9. buzzerflies - The feeling you get when your phone buzzes, and it is potentially the special someone...
  10. caking - It means flirting, either on the phone or in person. The act of flirting with cake...
  11. career-zoned - A verb for when someone rejects you romantically but wants to connect professionally....
  12. caspering - A variation of ghosting but doing it nicely by letting people down gently before you...
  13. catfish - Slang for making romantic online overtures using a fake identity. Like being deceived...
  14. cohabidating - When two people are newly dating and move in together, it usually refers to a young...
  15. cushioning - It's when you're in a relationship with someone, but you still chat and flirt with...
  16. draculaing - It's when people only hear from the people they are dating at night. Taken further,...
  17. DTR - It's that big awkward chat where two (or more?) people discuss "where things are going."...
  18. exaggerdate - A portmanteau to describe the act of embellishing a date so as to suggest it went...
  19. faux beau - A guy who acts like a boyfriend, but just as a ruse to continue his string of hookups....
  20. feels - Millingo for feelings. Sample this, "OMG! I’m starting to have the feels for my umfriend."
  21. force quit - In online dating it's slang for breaking up, as in "They force quit that relationship...
  22. gaslighting - Slang for abusive behavior, specifically when an abuser manipulates information in...
  23. going down in the DMs - When two people begin flirting through direct messages on a social media platform...
  24. grandeing - It's when a person is grateful for their past lovers and the things they taught them...
  25. haunting - A variation of ghosting; if ghosting is disappearing without any notice or closure...
  26. heart bargain - An intellectual who tries to reason their way into or out of an emotional decision,...
  27. HSAY - Many will say they’re single but there is often someone texting them good morning,...
  28. instabait - Uploading Instagram stories to prod a FOMO-prone crush to get in touch. It may work...
  29. instagator - Using Instagram to make a relationship public or to push it along further, as in instagrandstading....
  30. instagrandstanding - When you post photos and videos to your social media page and Instagram story tailored...
  31. iPhony - Online jargon that describes when someone constantly tells you they will text you...
  32. kittenfish - It's like catfish, but not as drastic. Kittenfishing is when someone uses steps to...
  33. on ice - When you decide to pause the pace of a relationship and chill out for minute, you're...
  34. on the team - A dating candidate squad, meaning some advice for single people is that they should...
  35. popsicle - It's when your instinct is to play it the opposite of cool, but you try too hard to...
  36. romanceting - It involves texting words and/or images, but instead of demanding sex, you express...
  37. scrooging - When you break up with your girlfriend or boyfriend just before the holidays so you...
  38. situationship - The new portmanteau for "it's complicated," it's when you're not in a committed relationship...
  39. slow fade - It's when you decide you don't want to continue dating someone, and you slowly start...
  40. snack - Slang for a very attractive person, usually a female.
  41. Snap trap - A tactic used to find out what your SO is up to. If you’ve sent text messages and...
  42. SO stalemate - In a relationship, it's when neither party will start the "define-the-relationship"...
  43. social squatter - Someone who breaks up with you but wants to keep seeing your friends platonically....
  44. soul-mining - A verb for when someone tries to cram three months of emotional intimacy into your...
  45. stashing - Stashing means to date someone, while not telling anyone about them. It's like having...
  46. textual chemistry - A noun for when your text connection is off-the-charts hot but in person, your chemistry...
  47. three-dot disappearing act - ... It's the act of starting to type a text message on your smartphone and then stopping,...
  48. throning - Similar to a trophy bride, or a trophy SO, it's when a person dates someone specifically...
  49. you-turn - Slang for someone who goes from one extreme relationship to the next in the blink...
  50. zombieing - Similar to ghosting, but the dater then reappears in your life and acts as nothing...

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