Slow Fade
what it means
Ghosting's cowardly cousin. Replies get slower and shorter until the conversation simply stops, letting the person doing it avoid an actual ending.
Gradually reducing contact until a relationship ends without anyone saying so.
the origin story
Relationship vocabulary from the 2010s, describing a pattern that predates apps but was made easier by them.
It's often defended as kinder than ghosting, since it doesn't involve sudden silence. Critics argue the opposite — a slow fade extends the uncertainty for weeks rather than delivering one clear ending.
in the wild
Replies went from instant to next-day to nothing.
Slow fade.
At least it's not ghosting.
It's ghosting in instalments.
how to use it
- Describing gradual withdrawal from a relationship
- Dating conversations
- Discussing how relationships end
- About natural drift in friendships
- Professionally
- As an accusation when someone's circumstances changed
related terms
receipts
Community feedback
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