10 Modern Dating Terms To Master The Evolving Dating Game

Back in the day, dating terms were pretty limited to going steady, courting, or getting pinned. Beyond that, dating terms of the olden days weren’t all too confusing. Now, there are so many modern dating terms it is hard to keep them all straight.

Since dating has become more complicated than asking for someone’s number, calling them, and going on a date, the dating terms have also evolved. You may be familiar with ones like ghosting or DTF, but what about cuffing, breadcrumbing, and haunting?

If you are searching for dating advice, especially online, these terms will surely arise, and learning their true meanings will definitely help you make sense of it all.

# Ghosting

I’m starting with ghosting because this was one of the first modern dating terms to be created. You are probably the most familiar with it. Ghosting is the unexpected and abrupt stop to all communication.

Out of the blue, someone will stop texting, stop responding, and may even go dark on social media. This is a coward’s way of ending a flirtation, relationship, or anything along those lines.

# Haunting

Another ghostly term, haunting is an aftermath of ghosting, but with a bit more dramatic flair. Once ghosted, haunting is the act of subtly showing up. So, they still aren’t communicating with you but might watch all of your Instagram stories or like your posts.

# Benching

Benching is a baseball term. It is when someone is there and waiting but without any actual action. It is the same in terms of dating.

If you’ve been benched, it means someone is essentially stringing you along but with no intentions. They just want you to wait for an indefinite amount of time until they may want to date you.

# Catfishing

I almost didn’t include catfishing in my glossary because it is pretty well-known, but it could be new to some. Catfishing presents a fake version of yourself online to catch a match.

This is done in various ways. It could be using someone else’s photos, heavily editing your own, or providing false or misleading information about yourself to potential dates. A lot of dating apps now offer photo verification to deter this behavior, but it happens often enough there is a TV show all about it.

# Breadcrumbing

This is similar to benching. Breadcrumbing is the act of sending cute, flirty, or flattering messages to keep you intrigued and interested but without actually talking or putting in effort.

# Orbiting

This is essentially a minor form of stalking an ex. Instead of lingering around your ex’s desk at work or asking their friends who they’re dating, they just roam around on their social media. This can include liking posts, DMing, and more to stay within their galaxy.

# Cloaking

Ouch. Cloaking is the even worse version of ghosting. Instead of someone just going radio silent, they actually go through the process of blocking you on social media too.

# Cuffing

Cuffing is dating during the colder months. It is finding someone to cuddle and be in a relationship with during fall and winter, but usually dumping them when the weather warms up.

# Left on read

I know this is pretty self-explanatory, but it must be included. Being left on read means someone has their read receipts on, saw your message and chose not to reply. It is very frustrating.

# Negging

Negging is a back-handed compliment. This can be something like, “wow you’re funny for a girl,” or “I’m surprised you know so much about baseball when you look like that.” It is all about attacking your confidence. Then, they’re the person to lift it up so that you crave their approval.