Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Contemporary (2000–) ·2015
Dadbod
dad body
- Meaning
- A softly out-of-shape male body type considered attractively unpretentious.
- Source words
- dad + body
- Coined by
- Mackenzie Pearson
- Year
- 2015
Background
Pearson's 2015 essay at *The Odyssey Online* went viral and made the word a US cultural moment. *Mom bod* has followed at lower intensity; both mark a brief 2010s counter-movement to aggressive body optimisation.
Contemporary (2000–)
Faster coinage, faster canonisation. Brexit and podcast both reached the OED within a decade of first use — historically rapid. Social media has made visibility, not invention, the rate-limiting step.
Two words, one coinage.
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