Incel
adj, noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A member of an online subculture of people (mostly men) who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one. countable, uncountable
"Though, involuntary celibates (or incels) shouldn't try to rationalize a dateless season or pass off sexual awkwardness as virtue; […]"
- 2 An individual who is not sexually active despite having such a desire. countable, uncountable
"Another study by Donnelly of seventy-seven incels in marriages or long-term relationships in the Journal of Marriage and Family used a web-based questionnaire to ask people why they stayed in their sexless relationships (defined in this case as no sex for six months)."
- 3 A misogynistic man, with the implication that his misogyny makes him undesirable to potential partners, thus limiting his romantic and/or sexual prospects. countable, derogatory, uncountable
- 4 "Involuntary celibacy": the state of being not sexually active despite wishing to be. informal, uncountable
- 1 Not having sexual relations despite wishing to. not-comparable
"People who are 'incel' are often suspected as being gay. It's annoying."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Tom was looking at some incel forum."
Etymology
Blend of involuntary + celibate. Coined by "Alana" in 1997 on an online forum (originally as invcel). Came to widespread usage in the mid-2010s, chiefly online, but now more widespread.
Related phrases
More for "incel"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.