cuffing season
/KUF-ing SEE-zən/noun
Meaning
The fall and winter period, usually beginning around October and lasting through Valentine’s Day, when single people are stereotypically more likely to look for a romantic partner. The relationship may be serious, but the phrase often jokes that it is mainly intended to provide companionship, intimacy, or a plus-one through the colder months.[1][2][3]
- 1. The seasonal dating period when single people seek a romantic partner as the weather cools.
- 2. A joking description of a short-term relationship formed for winter companionship and possibly ended when spring or warmer weather arrives.
Examples
“Cuffing season is here and my dating app is suddenly working overtime.”
“I’m not looking for forever, just a cute cuffing season situation.”
“Everyone is coupled up for cuffing season except me and my dog.”
“Our cuffing season plans are basically soup, movies, and matching hoodies.”
Origin and spread
Cuffing season is a compound of cuffing and season. In the relevant slang sense, cuff means to commit to or attach yourself to a romantic partner, with an additional allusion to being linked by handcuffs. The earliest located documented print example is a University of Rochester Campus Times article dated April 15, 2010; Merriam-Webster identifies appearances in college newspapers by 2011. The phrase spread through college and social-media talk in the early 2010s and gained wider visibility through rap and hip-hop usage, including Fabolous’s track Cuffin Season, released on December 25, 2013. The seasonal dating pattern itself is a cultural stereotype rather than a fixed calendar event.[3][4]
How to use it
The phrase is informal and usually playful, ironic, or lightly self-deprecating. It can describe anything from genuine winter dating to a deliberately temporary relationship, so it should not be used to assume that someone’s relationship is unserious. The usual North American timeframe is roughly October through February or mid-March, but the dates are flexible.
Sources
- 1. University of Rochester Campus Times — Summer heat melts away cuffing seasonSupports: earliest documented use, meaning.
- 2. The Guardian — Cuffing season: are people really coupling up just because it is winter?Supports: meaning.
- 3. CBS New York — Finding Love During 'Cuffing Season'Supports: meaning, origin.
- 4. Apple Music — Fabolous, Cuffin SeasonSupports: origin.
