cheugy

Cheugy (pronounced CHOO-gee) describes something that used to be trendy but now feels dated and try-hard, like it’s still stuck in 2015.

What cheugy means

Dictionary.com defines it as no longer cool or trendy. It’s not quite the same as uncool. Cheugy things were fashionable once, which is the problem: they’re what you buy when you’re following trends a few years too late. Things people have labeled cheugy include “Live, Laugh, Love” wall signs, chevron prints, “girlboss” merch and skinny jeans.

A person can be cheugy, and so can an outfit, a wedding hashtag or an Instagram caption. It’s usually more teasing than cruel, and many people happily call their own favorite things cheugy.

Examples

• “A ‘But first, coffee’ mug is the most cheugy gift imaginable.”
• “My mom says cheugy is cheugy now.”
• “I don’t care if it’s cheugy, I love my side part.”

Where it came from

According to The New York Times, Gaby Rasson coined cheugy in 2013, when she was a high school student in the Los Angeles area. It went viral eight years later. On March 30, 2021, TikToker Hallie Cain posted about it, and by mid-May #cheugy had passed 10 million views. Taylor Lorenz’s New York Times article explaining it ran on April 29, 2021, and suddenly everyone was checking whether they were cheugy.

The American Dialect Society nominated it in its 2021 Informal Word of the Year category, though it lost to “yassify.”

Gen Z vs. millennials

A lot of what got labeled cheugy in 2021 was classic millennial taste, so the word turned into a generational joke. Some commentators also noticed that the things called cheugy were often coded as feminine, and argued the label was a way of mocking what women like.

Related terms

• Basic: unoriginal, with mainstream tastes.
• Cringe: embarrassing to watch.
• Girlboss: a word that went from praise to punchline.
• OK boomer: a dismissive reply to an out-of-touch opinion.

See more terms like this in our TikTok slang guide.