flex
To flex means to show off, especially money, possessions or achievements. As a noun, a flex is the thing being shown off: “Her new car is a flex.”
What does flex mean?
Flex comes from flexing your muscles to show how strong you are. In slang, the “muscles” can be anything: designer clothes, a big paycheck, a vacation, good grades or famous friends. Flexing can be harmless pride or obnoxious bragging, depending on how it’s done.
A “humble flex” or “humblebrag” disguises showing off as modesty: “Ugh, I hate how my Harvard hoodie shrank in the wash.”
How to use flex
- “He’s always flexing his sneaker collection.”
- “Not to flex, but I finished my essay a week early.”
- “Paying off your student loans at 25 is a real flex.”
- “Weird flex but OK.”
“Weird flex but OK”
This reply mocks a strange or pointless thing to brag about: “I’ve never read a book in my life.” “Weird flex but OK.” Merriam-Webster traces it to a December 2017 reply on Twitter, and Know Your Meme notes it went viral in September 2018.
Where flex comes from
The slang builds on the idea of flexing muscles. Merriam-Webster points to Rae Sremmurd’s 2014 hit “No Flex Zone” as a big boost for the word’s popularity.
Related terms
See more terms like this in our Gen Z slang dictionary.
Example sentence
Posting your first-class boarding pass is a flex.
Similar words
show off, brag, stunt
Notes
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