Friend Zone Definition & Meaning

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  • American
  • Usage
  • Etymology
  • Examples
    • friend zone 1 American [frend zohn] / ˈfrɛnd ˈzoʊn /

    noun

    Slang.

    1. a friendship in which one person, typically male, is romantically or sexually attracted to the other, but the attraction is not mutual.

      He's obviously in love with her but she keeps him in the friend zone.

    friend-zone 2 American [frend-zohn] / ˈfrɛndˌzoʊn /

    verb (used with object)

    friend-zoned, friend-zoning

    1. Slang. to put (someone) in the friend zone.

      He wonders why he's always getting friend-zoned by women he likes.

    Usage

    What does friend-zone mean? The friend-zone is a figure of speech for what happens when one person wants to take things to the next level romantically but the other person just wants to be friends.

    Etymology

    Origin of friend zone1

    First recorded in 1990–95

    Origin of friend-zone2

    First recorded in 1990–95

    Example Sentences

    Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

    Time-travelling to Swift's high school days in Tennessee, it reminisces about a boy she confined to the friend zone while yearning for a single kiss.

    From BBC

    If there’s a breakout figure here, though, it may be Terrance, KeiLyn Durrel Jones’ sweet baggage handler who is Mel’s top advocate and a real estate holder in the Friend Zone.

    From Salon

    Does the crush reciprocate the narrator's feelings — or put them in the friend zone?

    From Salon

    Kendrick said in this film their characters have moved out of “the friend zone.”

    From Seattle Times

    Right now, our friendship is parked in “the friend zone” because I don’t know what to do from here.

    From Washington Post

    Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

    Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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