Context​

• While this list focuses on the digital misogyny ecosystem, many of these communities engage in hate speech or incite violence against other minority groups. This language may also appear in anti-LGBTQ+ or racist groups.
   

• Terms can shift over time, and usage may differ across forums (e.g., Reddit, 4chan, personal blogs, TikTok commentary).
   

• Seeing these terms in conversation may signal hostility toward women or at least membership in/manosphere adjacency to communities that promote adversarial gender views.
   

The Manosphere​

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Red Pill

• From The Matrix, referring to someone who “wakes up” to the “truth” that men are disadvantaged by feminism or social norms.
   

Blue Pill

• The “mainstream,” “unawakened” worldview; someone who hasn’t accepted the red pill narrative.
   

Black Pill

• A more pessimistic version of the red pill, especially in incel circles, asserting there’s no hope for improvement (often hyper-focused on looks-based fatalism).
   

Hypergamy

• The claim that women “marry up” or are always seeking higher-status men. Implies women "don't deserve" "high value" men.
   

Gynocentrism

• The belief that society is organized around female needs/desires, disadvantaging men.
   

Sexual Marketplace / SMV (Sexual Market Value)

• Viewing dating and relationships as a competition or “market,” where each person’s “value” (looks, status, wealth) determines desirability.
   

AWALT (“All Women Are Like That”)

• The notion that all women share certain negative traits (manipulative, hypergamous, etc.).
   

The Wall

• Women rapidly lose sexual desirability (and thus value) after a certain age, usually late 20s or early 30s.
   

Alpha Widow

• Suggests a woman who once dated an “alpha” will never be satisfied with a “beta” man afterward, remaining emotionally “widowed.”
   

Briffault’s Law

• A misused or misrepresented “law” in the manosphere stating that women are "animals" who control and manipulate men for wealth or status.
   

LMS (Looks, Money, Status)

• A formula used in black pill or incel communities to rank a man’s desirability.
   

Beta, Alpha, Sigma

• Labels for male hierarchies:
   

  • Alpha: Dominant/confident
     

  • Beta: Submissive/weak
     

  • Sigma: A “lone wolf” equally successful but independent
     

White Knight

• A derogatory term for men who defend or agree with women/feminists, implying they only do so for female approval.
   

Major Subcultures & Groups​

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Incels (Involuntary Celibates)

• Claim they can’t find partners despite wanting them; often blame women or genetics for their isolation. Some incel spaces display extreme misogyny or advocate violence.
   

MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way)

• Promote male separatism, disengagement from women, and avoidance of marriage/relationships to protect men from perceived legal and emotional risks.
   

Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs)

• Focus on issues they believe affect men (e.g., family courts, male victims of abuse). Some segments become overtly anti-feminist and dismiss women’s issues.
   

PUAs (Pickup Artists)

• Teach “game” or “seduction techniques,” focusing on strategies like “negging” or “DHV” (demonstration of higher value). This term is somewhat outdated, was very prevalent in the early-mid 2000's.
   

Black Pill Communities

• Offshoots of incel spaces with a fatalistic, deterministic outlook, holding that physical appearance alone determines success with women.

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Common Buzzwords & Slang​

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Feminazi

• A derogatory term implying feminists are extreme or totalitarian.
   

Cock Carousel

• A misogynistic term implying women spend their teens and early 20's being promiscuous before settling with a “beta.”
   

Oneitis

• The “mistake” of focusing on a single woman too intensely, viewed as detrimental in red pill logic.
   

Beta Bucks / Alpha Fucks

• The notion that women seek sexual gratification from alpha men and financial support from beta men.
   

Femoid / Foid

• A dehumanizing slur for women, common in more extreme incel spaces.
   

Gymcel / Heightcel / Wristcel

• Incels labeling themselves based on perceived physical shortcomings or attempts to “max” certain traits (e.g., gymcel = tries to improve looks at the gym).
   

Looksmaxing

• Efforts (exercise, grooming, surgery, etc.) to improve one’s physical attractiveness for success in the “sexual marketplace.”
   

LDAR (“Lay Down and Rot”)

• Incel slang for giving up on self-improvement or social engagement out of despair or hopelessness.

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Gen Z / Gen Alpha–Influenced Slang​

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Simp

• Used pejoratively for men perceived as too eager to please or defend women, implying weakness or subservience.
   

Pick-Me / Pick-Me Girl

• A term (used in various contexts) for women who court male approval by mocking other women or claiming “I’m not like other girls.” In manosphere circles, it can be twisted to praise women who “side with men.”
   

Femcel

• “Female incel.” Though smaller in number, some women claim “involuntary celibacy” and gather in parallel communities.
   

E-girl / Twitch Thot

• Derogatory references to female streamers or gamers, implying they exploit their looks for attention or money.
   

Coomer

• Slang mocking an (often male) porn-obsessed individual with no self-control, used to shame men considered “weak” or “addicted.”
   

“She belongs to the streets”

• A meme phrase implying a woman is promiscuous or “for everyone,” often used misogynistically.
   

“Ratio”

• Gen Z Twitter/TikTok slang indicating a reply gets more engagement than the original post. Often used aggressively in group attacks or “brigading.”
   

Cuck / Cuckold

• A popular online insult meaning a man is dominated or humiliated by a partner’s infidelity; in manosphere contexts, it also implies weakness.
   

NPC

• Stands for “Non-Player Character,” used to mock people as mindless or “programmed” (sometimes aimed at feminist supporters).

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Adjacent Terms​

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Sarging

• Older PUA term for going out specifically to pick up women (daygame vs. nightgame).
   

IOI / IOD (“Indicators of Interest” / “Indicators of Disinterest”)

• PUA shorthand to categorize subtle signs a woman is or isn’t attracted.
   

Hitting the Wall

• Another variation on “The Wall,” claiming a woman’s attractiveness or “viability” sharply drops after a certain age.

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Return of Kings / Roosh V

• A now-defunct website (Return of Kings) and its founder (Roosh V), prominent in the PUA scene and known for sexist content. Sometimes still referenced as a "founding father."
   

Rollo Tomassi / The Rational Male

• Influential figure in the red pill sphere; author of The Rational Male, often treated as a foundational manosphere text.
   

Andrew Tate / Fresh and Fit / Sneako

• Popular internet figures/podcasts aligning with or amplifying red pill rhetoric; often target young male audiences with anti-feminist or hyper-masculine content.
   

Honey Badgers

• A group of female-identifying content creators who support men’s rights or anti-feminist positions; sometimes invoked as evidence that “women also oppose feminism.”
   

PUAhate

• A historical forum created by individuals disillusioned with PUA methods; eventually became an incel hub. (Elliot Rodger was a member before his 2014 attack.)