Pocketing
What does Pocketing mean?
Pocketing is dating slang for keeping a romantic partner separate from friends, family, social media, or other important parts of one's public life.
Pocketing used in a sentence
“They had dated for six months, but none of his friends knew she existed, so she worried he was pocketing her.”
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 Pocketing?
Pocketing is about sustained concealment rather than ordinary privacy. Someone may avoid introductions, public acknowledgment, tagged photos, or situations where the partner would become part of their wider social world.
Where did Pocketing come from?
The term grew in dating-media coverage during the late 2010s as social media made public acknowledgment of relationships more visible. The metaphor imagines a partner being kept hidden away in a pocket.
Common variations of Pocketing
pocketed
Describes a partner who is being kept out of the other person's public or social life.
relationship pocketing
A fuller phrase used to distinguish the dating meaning from ordinary uses of pocketing.
Pocketing: frequently asked questions
Is pocketing the same as keeping a relationship private?
Not necessarily. Privacy can be mutual and healthy; pocketing usually describes one-sided or prolonged concealment that leaves a partner excluded.
What are common signs of pocketing?
Repeatedly avoiding introductions, public acknowledgment, social posts, or inclusion in important parts of someone's life can fit the pattern.