verb🔥 Gen-Z slang
soft launch
subtly hinting at a new relationship online
What it means
A "soft launch" is Gen-Z slang for subtly hinting at a new relationship online without fully revealing your partner — posting a hand, a shoulder, or two drinks at dinner. A low-key tease before a full reveal (the "hard launch").
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Examples
- She soft launched her boyfriend with a blurry dinner pic.
- That mystery arm in his story is a soft launch for sure.
- I'm gonna soft launch us before telling everyone.
- Two coffees and a sunset? Classic soft launch energy.
Where it comes from
Borrowed from product-marketing jargon, the relationship sense took off on Instagram and TikTok around 2021 as a way to tease romance ambiguously.
Related slang
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