Dating App Glossary: Every Term Explained

Keeping someone as a backup option — enough contact to keep them interested, but never committing or making real plans.

Named after keeping a player “on the bench.” It differs from ghosting because the person stays in intermittent contact rather than disappearing.

A paid feature that pushes your profile to the top of the local queue for a set period, greatly increasing views.

Most effective during peak hours (roughly 8–10pm, Sundays especially), when the most people are active.

Sending just enough flirty messages or attention to keep someone hooked, without any intention of dating them seriously.

The “breadcrumbs” are sporadic likes, texts or replies that lead nowhere. It is a close cousin of benching.

Using fake or misleading photos and information to pretend to be someone you are not.

It is about deception of identity or appearance. Accurate, enhanced photos are not catfishing — see our guide on whether AI dating photos are allowed.

The colder months when people are more motivated to find a steady partner to “cuff” for the winter.

Dating-app activity reliably spikes from autumn through Valentine’s Day, then eases in spring.

Keeping one or more backup romantic options on the side to “cushion” the blow if your main relationship ends.

It usually involves light flirting with others while already partnered or close to it.

An expert or AI review of your dating profile that scores your photos, flags weaknesses, and tells you what to change.

MatchShot’s free audit gives every photo a 0–100 score, red and green flags, a ranked order, and bio and prompt rewrites in under a minute.

The conversation where two people clarify what they are — casual, exclusive, official — and where things are heading.

Having the DTR talk is how a situationship becomes (or ends as) a defined relationship.

A hidden internal rating dating apps use to estimate how desirable your profile is, which shapes who sees you and who you see.

It rises when attractive, active profiles swipe right on you and falls with mass-swiping or inactivity. See our full Tinder ELO guide for how to raise it.

Abruptly cutting off all communication with someone with no explanation.

The most common form of modern dating exit. “Zombieing” is when a ghost suddenly reappears months later as if nothing happened.

A positive sign that someone is emotionally healthy and a good potential partner.

Examples: clear communication, respecting boundaries, consistency. The opposite of a red flag.

Openly and unambiguously revealing your partner on social media, face and all.

It usually follows a soft launch and signals the relationship is public and serious.

Overwhelming someone early on with excessive affection, gifts and attention to gain influence or control.

It can feel flattering but is often a manipulation tactic and a recognized red flag, especially when the intensity drops sharply once the person is hooked.

Someone who stops talking to you but keeps watching and reacting to your social media stories and posts.

They stay in your “orbit” — present enough to be noticed, absent enough to be confusing. Often follows a ghost.

When an ex or a past match periodically resurfaces just to get attention, then disappears again.

Similar to zombieing but repetitive — a recurring pattern of popping up to keep you emotionally on the hook.

A short question on Hinge that you answer to show personality — the main thing people like and start conversations from.

Because most Hinge conversations begin from a prompt like, strong prompt answers matter as much as photos. See our Hinge prompt answers guide.

A warning sign that suggests someone may be an unhealthy or unsafe partner.

Examples: love bombing, disrespecting boundaries, inconsistency, hostility. On a profile, red flags also mean photo or bio choices that hurt your matches.

A premium Hinge like that stands out from a normal like to signal stronger interest.

You get a limited number of free Roses and can buy more. Sending one roughly increases your odds of matching with a specific person you really want to reach.

A romantic or sexual relationship that is undefined and lacks the labels or commitment of an official relationship.

More than a hookup, less than a relationship. It often persists because neither person has had the “DTR” conversation.

Subtly hinting on social media that you are seeing someone without fully revealing them — a hand in a photo, two coffee cups, a shadow.

A “hard launch” is the opposite: openly posting your partner. Soft launching is the low-commitment first step.

A premium swipe that tells someone you are especially interested before they see your profile.

On Tinder, a Super Like roughly increases your match rate with that person and pushes your profile toward the front of their queue.

When someone who ghosted you suddenly returns and messages you as if no time has passed.

Named because the connection “comes back from the dead.” Usually a low-effort “hey, you” with no acknowledgement of the disappearance.