entanglement
/ɪnˈtæŋɡəlmənt/
CommonA romantic or sexual involvement, especially one that's complicated, undefined, or hard to get out of.
Skyrocketed after Jada Pinkett Smith used it in 2020 to describe an affair. Now used both sincerely and ironically, often to describe situationships, affairs, or relationship situations with unclear status.
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | i'd call it a relationship but she calls it an entanglement so here we are | Two people in the same situation have very different understandings of what it is. | x, 2022 |
| 02 | four months of texting every day and he calls it an entanglement. okay. | Sarcastic reaction to someone minimizing what has become a significant emotional involvement. | x, 2023 |
| 03 | not an entanglement, not a situationship. just vibing and slowly losing my mind. | Self-deprecating acknowledgment of being in an undefined situation. | tiktok, 2023 |
| 04 | my work entanglement just got promoted to my manager. incredible. | A complicated romantic involvement at work has become even more complicated by a career change. | reddit, 2024 |
| 05 | jada really said 'entanglement' on national tv and changed the language forever | Acknowledging the celebrity moment that popularized the term's current usage. | tiktok, 2022 |
Use it when
- Describing a complicated or undefined romantic situation.
- Referring to an affair or morally complicated involvement, often euphemistically.
- Using ironically when someone refuses to call their situationship what it is.
- When 'relationship' is too strong and 'fling' is too weak.
Do not use it when
- You mean a straightforward defined relationship.Use “relationship” instead.
- You mean casual dating with no complications.Use “seeing someone” instead.
Entanglement vs situationship
entanglement
Entanglement implies emotional mess or moral complexity. It can describe an affair or a relationship someone won't acknowledge.
situationship
Situationship is more neutral and describes a romantic connection that hasn't been formally defined.
Origin and context
The standard English word existed long before 2020, but its current slang usage was catalyzed by Jada Pinkett Smith using it during a Red Table Talk episode in July 2020 to describe a romantic involvement during her separation from Will Smith. The internet adopted it immediately, initially with mockery and then as genuine vocabulary.
- First seen
- 2020
- Confidence
- high
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/entanglement