neckbeard
noun
| NEK-beerd
Unattractive facial hair around the neck; a slovenly computer nerd; a misogynistic Internet troll
What does neckbeard mean?
In Internet slang a neckbeard is an insult for a repulsive man preoccupied with expressing misogynistic or otherwise antagonistic views online. He is typically presented as an unattractive, underachieving, computer-obsessed, and socially inept adult still living with his parents, and his poor grooming is marked by unsightly hair on his neck. This hair growth is itself called a neckbeard, and is sometimes used apart from the slang insult.
Examples of neckbeard
I recently found out one of my exes … has been radicalized by the far-right into incel neckbeard white nationalism.
—@hoodlumrock, Threads, 19 Nov. 2024
Not some neckbeard on TikTok trying to lecture me on how a set works … Film bros with Letterboxd accounts are insufferable
—The female Ghostbusters contend with male university and government officials, supernatural debunkers and an embittered occultist nerd who recalls the internet neckbeards who protested the film [Ghostbusters (2016)] itself.
—Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck revealed on Wednesday that his mother and his girlfriend both despise his increasingly famous neckbeard.
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Where does neckbeard come from?
Neckbeard combines neck and beard. In use since the mid-1800s, it originally referred to an actual beard grown primarily around the neck and jawline, perhaps similar to the so-called ‘chinstrap’ or ‘chin curtain’ facial hairstyle.
Today, a neckbeard can still refer to hair grown on the neck, when worn in a manner regarded as unkempt or unbecoming. By the early 2000s neckbeard changed meaning to also describe a stereotype of a computer nerd, especially one who does not groom. In the 2010s neckbeard began to be applied to the so-called Internet troll, a usually male figure seen as spending all of his time posting condescending, provocative, or hateful content online. Such Internet users also became increasingly associated with incels, an often misogynistic community of involuntarily celibate men, and a group they are frequently connected to, the alt-right, a far-right online movement espousing extremist beliefs.
How is neckbeard used?
Neckbeard is primarily used as a dismissive insult, with the force of “loser,” for male Internet users engaged in antisocial behavior (especially in the form of antagonizing women) or seen as having unhealthy digital lifestyles. While the term less often signifies the earlier physical attributes of a computer nerd, those stereotypes are still contextually implied. Occasionally, neckbeard is still used to make fun of actual facial hair, unrelatedly to its “nerd” or “troll” senses.
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