ick
/ik/noun · interjection
Meaning
As an interjection, ick expresses disgust or dislike. As a noun, especially in the phrase the ick, it describes a sudden, often difficult-to-explain loss of attraction toward someone a person is dating or considering romantically. The trigger may be a trivial habit, awkward mannerism, style choice, or genuinely concerning behavior.[1][2]
- 1. An exclamation used to show disgust or revulsion: Ick, there’s something floating in my drink.
- 2. A sudden feeling of romantic disgust that changes how someone sees a dating partner: I got the ick when he mocked the waiter.
- 3. The specific behavior, habit, or trait that causes that reaction: Her habit of filming every meal is one of my icks.
- 4. A broader personal turn-off outside dating, often used humorously: Group projects where nobody reads the instructions give me the ick.
Examples
“He called his mom during the date and I got the ick.”
“That laugh gave me the ick.”
“My biggest ick is when someone is rude to service workers.”
“The ick hit when she started live-streaming our dinner.”
“Not a red flag, just a very specific ick.”
Origin and spread
Ick began as an informal interjection expressing disgust; Merriam-Webster records that general sense in print by 1967. The noun phrase the ick appears in the romantic sense in the 1998 television series Ally McBeal, where it describes a sudden realization that a date is not romantically right. The expression also appeared in Sex and the City in 2003. Its modern popularity grew substantially after Olivia Attwood used it on the British reality show Love Island in 2017, after which dating discussions on TikTok and other social platforms helped spread it widely in the 2020s. The older interjection and the later dating sense are related in meaning, but the dating phrase was not coined by TikTok.[2]
How to use it
Ick is casual, subjective, and often playful. The phrase usually suggests that attraction disappeared because of a small or oddly specific detail, while a serious safety concern or abusive behavior is better described directly rather than softened as an ick. It can be used for any gender, although some public discussions have framed it mainly around women describing male dating partners. The common constructions are get the ick, give someone the ick, and have an ick.
Sources
- 1. Cambridge English Dictionary — ICKSupports: meaning.
- 2. The Independent — Love Island: What is ‘the ick’ and how does it develop?Supports: meaning, origin.
