incel
/ˈɪn(ˌ)sɛl/
incel noun: "Involuntary celibacy": the state of being not sexually active despite wishing to be.
Noun
incel (countable and uncountable, plural incels)
- "Involuntary celibacy": the state of being not sexually active despite wishing to be.
- Synonyms:
- incelibacy, love-shyness, fuckstration, AFCdom, AFCness
- Someone (especially a man) who desires a sexual relationship but considers themselves unable to attract a partner; (often specifically), a member of an online subculture of people who identify in this way, often adopting resentful or misogynistic attitudes towards women as a result.
- Though, involuntary celibates (or incels) shouldn't try to rationalize a dateless season or pass off sexual awkwardness as virtue; […]2004, Phineas Mollod, Jason Tesauro, The Modern Lover: A Playbook for Suitors, Spouses & Ringless Carousers, Ten Speed Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 90
- Another study by Donnelly of seventy-seven incels in marriages or long-term relationships in the Journal of Marriage and Family used a web-based questionnaire to ask people why they stayed in their sexless relationships (defined in this case as no sex for six months).2009, Luisa Dillner, Love by Numbers: The Hidden Facts Behind Everyone's Relationships, Profile Books, published 2009, →ISBN, page 153
- Antonyms:
- volcel
Adjective
incel (not comparable)
- Not having sexual relations despite wishing to.
- People who are 'incel' are often suspected as being gay. It's annoying.2001 May 30, Gra - gra, “I love you!”, in alt.support.shyness (Usenet)
incel meaning in Marathi
incel in Marathi
- member of an online subculture unable to find a romantic or sexual partner
- इनसेल insel
Examples of incel in a sentence
- It is not clear when the term incels was coined, but the link between misogyny and violence against women has emerged on sites where incel communities gather.2017 November 9, Christine Hauser, “Reddit Bans ‘Incel’ Group for Inciting Violence Against Women”, in The New York Times:
- The incel ideology has already inspired the murders of at least sixteen people.2018 May 15, Jia Tolentino, “The Rage of the Incels”, in The New Yorker:
- Who are the ‘incels’ and how do they relate to Toronto van attack?2018 April 25, Alex Hern, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/25/what-is-incel-movement-toronto-van-attack-suspect, The...
- A subreddit, or forum on Reddit, called r/incels was one of the most visible meeting places for self-identified incels until it was banned by Reddit in 2017 for “violent content.”2023 March 16, AJ Willingham, “What does the term ‘incel’ mean?”, in CNN:
Synonyms of incel
- incelibacy
- love-shyness
- fuckstration
- AFCdom
- AFCness
- AFC
- blue-baller
- incelibate
- involuntary celibate
- love-shy
3 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- permavirgin
- forever alone
- TFLer
Antonyms
Forms of incel
| plural | incels |
|---|---|
| alternative form | invcel |
Origin of incel
Syllabic abbreviation of involuntary celibate. Coined by "Alana" in 1997 on an online forum (originally as invcel). Came to widespread usage in the mid-2010s, chiefly online, but now more widespread.
Words formed from incel
Phrases with incel
Words that rhyme with incel
Questions about incel
- What does incel mean?
- Incel means "Involuntary celibacy": the state of being not sexually active despite wishing to be.
- What is incel in Marathi?
- Incel in Marathi is इनसेल (insel). See Incel meaning in Marathi.
- How do you use incel in a sentence?
- It is not clear when the term incels was coined, but the link between misogyny and violence against women has emerged on sites where incel communities gather.
- What part of speech is incel?
- Incel can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce incel?
- Incel is pronounced /ˈɪn(ˌ)sɛl/.
- What is the plural of incel?
- The plural of incel is incels.
Words near incel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: incel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-incel.wav.
Cite this entry: “incel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/incel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.