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Ick

noun

By Editorial Team
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In a sentence

  • “he chased the bus and I caught the ick instantly”
  • “watching him use a baby voice gave me the ick”
  • “sorry but chewing that loud is a genuine ick for me”

Origin

The ick describes a sudden, often irrational disgust toward a romantic interest. The concept was memorably referenced on 1990s television, but its modern dating usage took off through the UK reality show Love Island (notably around 2017) and then went fully mainstream on TikTok in the early 2020s, where creators posted endless lists of their most oddly specific “icks.”

How it’s used

The ick is about attraction curdling over something small:

  • Catching it: “he called his mom in front of me and I caught the ick.”
  • Naming one: “men who take selfies in the mirror — instant ick.”
  • As a verdict: “cute, but that laugh is an ick.”

It’s essentially the anti-rizz: where rizz draws someone in, the ick pushes them away. The face that follows is pure Side-eye.

Frequently asked

What's an example of an ick?

Icks are famously trivial and specific: tripping on a flat sidewalk, running for the bus, using a baby voice, texting with too many emojis. The point is that a tiny, harmless thing can flip attraction into repulsion in an instant.

Can you get over the ick?

Sometimes, but the ick is notorious for sticking. Once you associate someone with the cringe moment, it tends to color how you see them — which is exactly why people talk about it as attraction-ending.

Sources

  1. 1.The Ick — Know Your Meme — Know Your Meme

Related slang

Delulu Sus Rizz

Related memes

Discussion

Corrections and context welcome. Editors read this thread.