What does "will-they-won't-they" mean?

Of or pertaining to a potential coupling between two people who share romantic chemistry, but whose relationship is threatened by uncertainty, external obstacles or internal strife.

Will-they-won't-they

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1
Of or pertaining to a potential coupling between two people who share romantic chemistry, but whose relationship is threatened by uncertainty, external obstacles or internal strife. not-comparable
"Princess Sonja, the daughter of an Oslo fashion house director, married Crown Prince Harald last summer after a will-they-won't-they romance that had gone on for a decade."
2
Of or pertaining to any situation in which there is an extended period of uncertainty. broadly, not-comparable
"Among the small producers, the West German companies Continental Gummi and Phoenix Gummi are in the middle of a will-they-won't-they merger dance."

Example

More examples

"Princess Sonja, the daughter of an Oslo fashion house director, married Crown Prince Harald last summer after a will-they-won't-they romance that had gone on for a decade."

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.