FOMO

FormsFOMOs, FOMOing, FOMOed

1. 1
   noununcountableinitialism

   Initialism of fear of missing out.

   Scrolling through the trip photos triggered a sharp wave of FOMO.

   She booked the flight on impulse, driven more by FOMO than by any real wish to travel.

   Note

   An initialism with a known birthday: Patrick James McGinnis coined it in 2004, in the same Harbus article that introduced FOBO. It is uncountable, so you feel FOMO or act out of FOMO but never have a FOMO. Its reach runs from parties and new experiences to profitable investments. McGinnis himself stretched it into an adjective ("more and more FOMO"). Its opposite is JOMO.

2. 2
   verbintransitive

   To experience a fear of missing out, or to act on that fear impulsively, often by rushing into something.

   Like buying a ticket the moment you hear friends are going, before you've even decided whether you want to.

   He tends to FOMO into every group trip, then regrets the cost later.

   She FOMOed into the crypto craze and lost most of her savings.

   Note

   Here the noun becomes something you do, usually in a rush and usually with into marking what you rush toward. Andrew R. Chow's Cryptomania (2024) has new investors FOMO-ing into an NFT project. Spelling wavers where English endings meet capitals: FOMOing or FOMO-ing, FOMOed or FOMO'd, with FOMOs for the third person. In edited prose, choose one form and keep to it.

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