cheugy

Reportedly coined by American high school student Gaby Rasson in 2013 to describe "people who were slightly off trend" and subsequently popularized by her peers.[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃuː.ɡi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːɡi

cheugy (comparative more cheugy or cheugier, superlative most cheugy or cheugiest)

1. (Internet slang, neologism) Uncool in a tryhard, out-of-touch way, especially in the context of lifestyle trends of the 2010s.
   • 2021 April 29, Taylor Lorenz, “What is ‘cheugy’? You know it when you see it”, in New York Times‎, Style:

     Alex Lugger, 32, a boat marketer in Springfield, Mo., said that she self identifies as a bit cheugy. (She also learned about the word through TikTok.) “We were basic in our 20s and now we’re cheugy in our 30s,” she said.

   • 2021, Carter Sawatzky, "An Autopsy Of #Girlboss Feminism", Mars' Hill (Trinity Western University), 22 September 2021, page 15:

     Derived from the notoriously cheugy “live, laugh, love,” the mantra “gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss” found its funny by lumping together online phenomena the internet hates most.

   • 2022, Claire Cook, Must Love Dogs: Lucky Enough, unnumbered page (published 4 March 2022):

     "You might want to ditch the Crocs to pass the vibe check," Siobhan whispered. "They're a little cheugy."

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:cheugy.

• basic
• chuggy