Acronym
What does FOMO mean?
Fear of missing out: the fear of being outside the party the feed insists is happening.
Definition
FOMO names absence anxiety. The feed shows the table, the show, the couple, the job. JOMO (joy of missing out) is the marketing antidote. The acronym left marketing and Patrick McGinnis's writing for therapist and group-chat vocabulary. It is not a diagnosis. It is the name of a tug.
Origin
English, popularised in the 2000s–2010s (McGinnis; then marketing research).
History
From MBA and blog to Instagram Stories as the engine of the feeling.
How it emerged
The permanent shop window needed a name for the fear of not being in it.
Usage examples
I cancelled and FOMO hit at 11 p.m.
Career FOMO is a different animal from party FOMO.
Translations
- pt FOMO
- en FOMO
- es FOMO
Synonyms
- fear of missing out
- absence anxiety
- JOMO
Acronyms
- FOMO
- JOMO
Related terms
Questions
What does FOMO mean?
Fear of missing out. The fear of missing what other people are living.
A disorder?
No. A name for a feeling. If it freezes a life, the path is clinical, not lexical.
JOMO?
Joy of missing out: the declared pleasure of staying out.