FOMO
What does FOMO mean?
FOMO stands for 'fear of missing out,' the anxiety that other people are having fun, experiences, or opportunities without you, often triggered by social media.
FOMO used in a sentence
“She was exhausted but had such bad FOMO about the concert that she went anyway.”
This example shows the term in context rather than treating the definition as a literal word-for-word substitution. Slang often depends on tone, audience, and the conversation around it.
How do you use FOMO?
FOMO is used for social events, trends, sales, investments, and online moments. It is often linked to scrolling through friends' posts, and people frame skipping things happily as 'JOMO,' the joy of missing out. In finance, FOMO describes buying into something because others seem to be profiting.
Where did FOMO come from?
Patrick McGinnis is credited with popularizing FOMO in a 2004 article in Harvard Business School's student newspaper, The Harbus, while marketing strategist Dan Herman has claimed earlier work on the concept in the 1990s. FOMO was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013.
Common variations of FOMO
fear of missing out
The full phrase the abbreviation stands for.
FOMO: frequently asked questions
Is FOMO a new slang term?
No. It dates to the early 2000s, but social media has kept it extremely common.
What is the opposite of FOMO?
JOMO, the joy of missing out, describes happily skipping events or trends.