looksmaxxing

Looksmaxxing means trying to make yourself as attractive as possible, especially among young men online. It ranges from skincare and haircuts to extreme and risky practices.

What looksmaxxing means

Merriam-Webster defines it as practices, especially among young men online, to enhance their physical appearance, ranging in intensity from everyday skincare to cosmetic surgery. The community splits it in two:

• Softmaxxing: ordinary things like skincare, grooming, exercise, better clothes and posture.
• Hardmaxxing: extreme measures, including surgery and other risky body modifications. Merriam-Webster notes it can involve disordered eating.

It comes with its own vocabulary: mogging, mewing, “hunter eyes” and so on.

Examples

• “He’s looksmaxxing now: new haircut, skincare, the whole thing.”
• “Drinking more water is the most basic looksmaxxing tip.”
• “Some of the hardmaxxing stuff online is genuinely dangerous.”

Where looksmaxxing came from

The word joins “looks” with “maxxing,” gaming slang for maximizing a stat. Both Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com trace it to incel forums in the mid-2010s, online communities associated with misogynist and extremist ideas. It spread to TikTok and other platforms in the early 2020s and drew wide attention in late 2023 and early 2024, along with concern about its effects on young men’s health and self-image.

A note for parents

Plenty of “looksmaxxing” content is just grooming advice with a new label. The concern is the other end: content that tells teenage boys their faces are a problem to fix, rates them against each other, and pushes dangerous methods. If a teen is obsessing over their appearance, restricting food or talking about surgery, it’s worth talking to them and, if needed, a doctor.

Related terms

• Mog: to outclass someone in looks.
• Mewing: a tongue posture trend claimed to sharpen the jaw.
• Glow up: a positive transformation.
• Sigma: a manosphere archetype.

See more terms like this in our Gen Alpha slang guide.