Rejections & Breakups: English Vocabulary List

to abruptly cut off communication with someone, especially online, without explanation

"He decided to ghost her."

"She decided to ghost her colleague after he lied about completing the entire project alone."

to read a message without replying, often implying disinterest or rejection

"I texted her, but she left me on read."

"She saw his message but decided to leave him on read because she did not want to reply."

to deliberately leave someone's text message on read without replying

"Don't R-bomb me."

"She was upset when he chose to R-bomb her text, ignoring her messages completely."

kept as a backup romantic or dating option while the other person pursues someone else

"He was benched."

"He realized he was being benched when she always canceled their dates for other plans."

to suddenly reappear in someone's life after having previously ghosted them

"He will zombie her."

"After weeks of no contact, he decided to zombie her by sending a casual text message."

(of a person) dumped, rejected, or discarded abruptly or harshly

"He was kicked to the curb."

"She felt completely kicked to the curb when her boyfriend ended their relationship without explanation."

to place someone in a category of friendship only, ignoring their romantic interest

"She friend zoned him after two dates."

"He was disappointed when she friend zoned him after they had been dating for several weeks."

to gradually reduce communication with someone; to end a relationship indirectly

"He slow faded instead of breaking up directly."

"Instead of breaking up directly he decided to slow fade and gradually stop answering her texts and calls."

completely finished, over, or no longer continuing, often used for relationships or situations

"Our vacation is donezo."

"After a long and difficult negotiation, the business deal was finally declared donezo by both parties."

to end a relationship with someone

"She will ex him."

"It's time to ex him because he never listens to your feelings anymore."

overly preoccupied, worried, or obsessed with someone or something

"He is hung up."

"She's still hung up on her past mistakes and can't move forward with her life."

a dismissive way to say goodbye to someone unimportant, annoying, or unwelcome

"Bye Felicia, go away."

"When he started complaining about the minor inconvenience, I just said 'bye Felicia' and walked away."

to end a relationship that one was romantically involved in, often in a way that is unexpected or unfair

"He will dump her."

"She was heartbroken when her boyfriend decided to dump her without any explanation."

to reject or turn down someone's romantic or flirtatious advance

"She will curve him."

"Despite his persistent advances, she managed to curve his attempts at flirtation gracefully."

a sudden feeling of disgust or loss of attraction toward someone, often due to a minor behavior or trait

"His chewing gave her the ick."

"His chewing gave her the ick and she could no longer see him as attractive after that."

to remove, reject, or cut someone or something out of your life, often due to disapproval

"Cancel that plan."

"She decided to cancel her subscription after receiving consistently poor service."

to cheat on or be unfaithful to a romantic partner

"He will run around."

"His partner suspected he was running around, leading to a serious confrontation."

to ignore, dismiss, or intentionally skip someone

"Blow off the meeting."

"He decided to blow off the important meeting to attend his friend's wedding."