glow up

A glow up is a major transformation for the better, usually in how someone looks, but also in confidence, health or life in general. The opposite, when someone or something gets worse, is a glow down.

What glow up means

Merriam-Webster defines it as a usually dramatic improvement, especially in appearance. The classic glow-up post is a before-and-after: an awkward school photo next to a recent one, captioned with something like “the glow up is real.” It works as a noun (“she had a glow up”) and a verb (“he really glowed up”).

People use it far beyond looks. Getting out of a bad relationship, finally going to therapy, moving to a new city or turning a messy bedroom into a nice one can all be a glow up.

Examples

• “Not to brag, but my 2019 to now glow up is insane.”
• “The glow up after she quit that job? Unreal.”
• “This park had a full glow up, it used to be a parking lot.”

Where glow up came from

Merriam-Webster thinks it’s probably a blend of “glow” and “grow up,” says it originated in African American English and gives a first known use of around 2015. Its slang page connects it to Chicago rapper Chief Keef, whose 2013 song “Gotta Glo Up One Day” used “glo up” to mean rising in wealth and status. Keef’s label, Glo Gang, had earlier been called Glory Gangz, so the “glo” may come from “glory.”

Before-and-after glow-up posts took over social media in the late 2010s. Merriam-Webster officially added “glow-up” to its dictionary in September 2026, in a batch of about 1,400 new words.

The criticism

Merriam-Webster notes that critics see glow-up culture as reinforcing narrow beauty standards, since the “after” photo usually means thinner, more polished or more conventionally attractive. Plenty of people now use the term for inner changes on purpose.

Related terms

• Main character: living like the star of your own story.
• Snatched: looking flawless.
• Clean girl aesthetic: a polished, natural look.
• Aura: effortless cool factor.

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