FOMO

FOMO means “fear of missing out.” It’s the anxious feeling that other people are having fun, making plans or getting opportunities without you.

What does FOMO mean?

FOMO stands for “fear of missing out.” It describes the uneasy sense that something better is happening somewhere else, often triggered by seeing friends’ photos, stories or group chats. People use it lightly (“skipping the party but the FOMO is real”) and more seriously, for a restless habit of saying yes to everything so you never miss anything.

How to use FOMO

• “I wasn’t going to go, but the FOMO got me.”
• “Seeing everyone at the festival is giving me major FOMO.”
• “I bought the tickets out of pure FOMO.”
• “No FOMO tonight, I’m happy on the couch.”

FOMO vs. JOMO

JOMO, the “joy of missing out,” is the opposite: enjoying staying in, logging off or skipping an event without regret. People often use it as a deliberate antidote to FOMO.

FOMO in money and investing

In finance and crypto talk, FOMO describes buying something because its price is rising fast and you’re afraid of missing the gains, often right before it falls. “FOMO buying” is generally seen as a mistake, not a strategy.

Where FOMO comes from

The term is credited to Patrick J. McGinnis, who wrote about it as a Harvard Business School student in 2004, around the time social networking was taking off. The Oxford English Dictionary added FOMO in 2013, and Merriam-Webster added it in April 2016, alongside ICYMI and TMI.

Related terms

• ICYMI: in case you missed it.
• Brain rot: the feeling of too much low-quality content.
• Iykyk: if you know, you know.
• IRL: in real life.

See more terms like this in our texting abbreviations guide.