verb🔥 Gen-Z slang

soft launch

subtly hinting at a new relationship online

What it means

To subtly hint at a new relationship online without fully revealing your partner, like posting a hand, a shoulder, or two drinks. It's a low-key reveal that teases that you're seeing someone before a full 'hard launch'.

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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