incel

See also: Incel, íncel, and -incel

English

Etymology

Blend 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪn(ˌ)sɛl/

• Audio (Southern England); [ˈɪ̃n(ˌ)tsɛɫ]:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪnsɛl

Noun

incel (countable and uncountable, plural incels)

1. A member of an online subculture of people (mostly men) who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one.
   • 2004, Phineas Mollod, Jason Tesauro, The Modern Lover: A Playbook for Suitors, Spouses & Ringless Carousers, Ten Speed Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 90:

     Though, involuntary celibates (or incels) shouldn't try to rationalize a dateless season or pass off sexual awkwardness as virtue; […]

   • 2017 November 9, Christine Hauser, “Reddit Bans ‘Incel’ Group for Inciting Violence Against Women”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     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.

   • 2018 May 15, Jia Tolentino, “The Rage of the Incels”, in The New Yorker‎^[3]:

     The incel ideology has already inspired the murders of at least sixteen people. Elliot Rodger, in 2014, in Isla Vista, California, killed six and injured fourteen in an attempt to instigate a “War on Women” for “depriving me of sex.”

   • 2018 April 25, Alex Hern, Who are the 'incels' and how do they relate to Toronto van attack?, The Guardian:
   • 2023 January, Meg Roser, Charlotte Chalker and Tim Squirrell, “Spitting out the blackpill: Evaluating how incels present themselves in their own words on the incel Wiki”, in Institute for Strategic Dialogue‎^[4], pages 5-6:

     The framing of inceldom as an “adverse life circumstance”, repeated across the Wiki, lends credibility to the framing used by incels who wish to dissociate themselves from the common descriptions of incels as a ‘movement’, ‘ideology’ or ‘community’. […] This report finds that the Wiki is a site of attempts to divorce the concept of being an incel from believing in the blackpill, and we argue that this is intended as a means of both expanding the category of incels to make them politically relevant, and dissociating the label ‘incel’ from violent misogyny.

   • 2023 March 16, AJ Willingham, “What does the term ‘incel’ mean?”, in CNN‎^[5]:

     Online forums dedicated to incel culture are a reliable way to see how the term evolved and is used today. 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.”

2. An individual who is not sexually active despite having such a desire.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:incel

   Antonym: volcel

   Hyponyms: AFChick, femcel

   • 2009, Luisa Dillner, Love by Numbers: The Hidden Facts Behind Everyone's Relationships, Profile Books, published 2009, →ISBN, page 153:

     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).

3. (derogatory) A misogynistic man, with the implication that his misogyny makes him undesirable to potential partners, thus limiting his romantic and/or sexual prospects.
4. (uncountable, seduction community, informal) "Involuntary celibacy": the state of being not sexually active despite wishing to be.

   Synonyms: incelibacy, love-shyness, fuckstration, AFCdom, AFCness

   (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Usage notes

The main difference between an incel (sense 1) and a man who simply does not have a romantic partner (sense 2) seems to lie in the identification with the online subculture.

In the strict sense, 'involuntary celibate' is synonymous with sense 2, but 'incel' usually refers to the more narrowly defined online community.

Coordinate terms

• Chad
• Stacy
• tyrone
• Trixie

Derived terms

• -cel
• Glincel
• incelcore
• inceldom
• incelism
• incellike
• incelosphere
• nigcel

Translations

member of an online subculture unable to find a romantic or sexual partner

• Danish: incel
• Dutch: incel (nl) m
• Estonian: incel
• Finnish: incel (fi)
• French: incel (fr) m
• German: Incel (de) m
• Italian: incel (it) m
• Japanese: インセル (inseru)
• Marathi: इनसेल (insel)
• Polish: incel (pl) m, incelka f
• Portuguese: incel (pt) m or f
• Russian: инце́л (ru) m (incél), инце́лка f (incélka)
• Spanish: íncel (es) m or f, incel m or f
• Turkish: incel
• Ukrainian: інце́л m (incél), інце́лка f (incélka)

Adjective

incel (not comparable)

1. (seduction community) Not having sexual relations despite wishing to.

   Hypernym: love-shy

   • 2001 May 30, Gra - gra, “I love you!”, in alt.support.shyness (Usenet):

     People who are 'incel' are often suspected as being gay. It's annoying.

See also

• MGTOW (neologism)
• nice guy syndrome
• orbiter

Anagrams

• -cline, Cline, cline, incle

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English incel. First attested in 2018.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈenˌsɛlˀ/

Noun

incel (singular definite incellen, plural indefinite incels)

1. (neologism) incel
   • 16 August 2021, Laura Byager Rabøl, Massemorder havde “spist den sorte pille” - hvor farlige er incels?, TV2 Nyheder:

     På grund af sin internetaktivitet og særligt sin nu lukkede Youtube^[sic]-kanal kædes Jake Davison i de britiske medier sammen med incel-miljøet – et online miljø for især unge mænd, der lever i ufrivillig cølibat og bekender sig til en kvindefjendsk ideologi.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Further reading

• “incel” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English incel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.sɛl/
• Hyphenation: in‧cel

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

incel m (plural incels, no diminutive)

1. (neologism) incel
   • 2018, Sacha Kester, “Wie hoopt er op een ‘incel’-revolutie? Seksueel gefrustreerde mannen stoken elkaar op internet op”, in Volkskrant:

     De incels vinden dat de samenleving onaantrekkelijke, heteroseksuele mannen tekortdoet en hebben een hartgrondige hekel aan vrouwen.

     The incels believe that the society disadvantages unattractive, heterosexual and have a wholehearted hatred for women.

   • 2018, Frank Kuin, “Moorden door gefrusteerde vrouwenhaters”, in NRC:

     Mannen die zichzelf identificeren als incels „kunnen geen seks krijgen, hoewel ze dat wel willen”, wordt uitgelegd op de website incels.me, een van de belangrijkste internetforums van de beweging, naast 4chan en Reddit.

     Men who identify themselves as incels „can't get sex, although they want to”, is explained on the website incels.me, one of the most important internet forums of the movement, alongside 4chan and Reddit.

   • 2018, Dirk Waterval, Ook Nederlandse mannen actief op forum voor radicale vrouwenhaters, Trouw:

     Sommigen dromen over een opstand waarin de incels seks met geweld afdwingen, anderen fantaseren eerder over massale schietpartijen als vergelding.

     Some dream of an uprising in which the incels enforce sex by force, others fantasize more about massive shootings as retaliation.

Estonian

Etymology

From English incel. First attested in c. 2011.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈinsˑel/, [ˈinsˑel]
• Rhymes: -insˑel
• Hyphenation: in‧cel

Noun

incel (genitive incel'i or inceli, partitive incel'it or incelit)

1. incel
   • 2019 April 8, Inceli subkultuuri kuuluvad mehed süüdistavad naisi oma seksuaalses saamatuses‎^[6]:

     Inceliks olemine võib viia depressioonini, isegi enesetapuni. Tuntud incelid on ka mõned massimõrvarid, nt Elliot Rodger, kelle väljakuulutatud eesmärgiks oli karistada naisi talle seksist keeldumise eest.

     Being an incel can lead to depression, even suicide. Some mass murderers are also known incels, e.g., Elliot Rodger, whose declared goal was to punish women for refusing him sex.

Declension

• Standard

Declension of incel (ÕS type 2/õpik, no gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		incel	incel'id
accusative	nom.
	gen.	incel'i
genitive			incel'ite
partitive		incel'it	incel'eid
illative		incel'isse	incel'itesse incel'eisse
inessive		incel'is	incel'ites incel'eis
elative		incel'ist	incel'itest incel'eist
allative		incel'ile	incel'itele incel'eile
adessive		incel'il	incel'itel incel'eil
ablative		incel'ilt	incel'itelt incel'eilt
translative		incel'iks	incel'iteks incel'eiks
terminative		incel'ini	incel'iteni
essive		incel'ina	incel'itena
abessive		incel'ita	incel'iteta
comitative		incel'iga	incel'itega

• Common use

Declension of incel (ÕS type 2/õpik, no gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		incel	incelid
accusative	nom.
	gen.	inceli
genitive			incelite
partitive		incelit	inceleid
illative		incelisse	incelitesse inceleisse
inessive		incelis	incelites inceleis
elative		incelist	incelitest inceleist
allative		incelile	incelitele inceleile
adessive		incelil	incelitel inceleil
ablative		incelilt	incelitelt inceleilt
translative		inceliks	inceliteks inceleiks
terminative		incelini	inceliteni
essive		incelina	incelitena
abessive		incelita	inceliteta
comitative		inceliga	incelitega

Further reading

• incel in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

French

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English incel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /in.sɛl/

Noun

incel m (plural incels)

1. (neologism) incel

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English incel. First attested in 2017.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌinˈt͡ʃel/
• Rhymes: -el
• Hyphenation: in‧cél

Noun

incel m (invariable)

1. (neologism) incel

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English incel.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩˈsɛw/ [ĩˈsɛʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩˈsɛl/ [ĩˈsɛɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩˈsɛl/ [ĩˈsɛɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩˈsɛ.li/

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -ɛw, (Portugal) -ɛl
• Hyphenation: in‧cel

Noun

incel m or f by sense (plural incels or (rare) incéis)

1. (neologism) incel

Adjective

incel m or f (plural incel or incels or (rare) incéis)

1. (neologism) incel
   • 2022 March 18, Gustavo Pinheiro, 0:17 from the start, in O Incel que PIROU... [The Incel that went NUTS...]‎^[7], Guarulhos: Stackz, via YouTube, archived from the original on 23 March 2023:

     Se você está há tempo suficiente na internet, provavelmente você já ouviu falar na comunidade incel [...]

     If you've been on the internet long enough, you've probably heard of the incel community [...]

Further reading

• “incel”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Alternative forms

• íncel

Etymology

Borrowed from English incel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈinθel/ [ˈĩn̟.θel] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /ˈinsel/ [ˈĩn.sel] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -inθel (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• Rhymes: -insel (Latin America, Philippines)
• Syllabification: in‧cel

Noun

incel m or f by sense (plural inceles or incels or incel)

1. incel
   • 2021 August 15, Lauren Kent, Hannah Ritchie, “El tirador de Plymouth hizo comentarios misóginos evocando la ideología 'incel'”, in CNN en Español‎^[8]:

     Los incel son casi siempre hombres o jóvenes que defienden puntos de vista misóginos y, a menudo, dicen que quieren tener sexo, pero sienten que las mujeres o las jóvenes se lo niegan.

     Incels are almost always adult or young men who defend misogynist viewpoints and regularly say they want sex but feel adult or young women deny it from them.

   • 2025 March 25, AJ Willingham, “¿Qué significa el término "incel"?”, in CNN en Español‎^[9]:

     “Estos comentarios tan preocupantes están imbuidos de sentimientos de que se tiene cierto derecho sexual, en los que los inceles puntúan más alto que los varones no inceles”.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2025 April 19, Manuela Castro, “Regla 80/20, la teoría misógina de "Adolescence": qué sabemos en realidad sobre los vínculos entre hombres y mujeres”, in CNN en Español‎^[10]:

     Según el estudio “Incels: dentro del mundo de los célibes involuntarios”, de la Universidad de Nueva York (NYU) y la Fiscalía del distrito de Manhattan, los incels creen que una minoría de hombres atractivos monopoliza a la mayoría de las mujeres y llaman a esto la “regla del 80/20”.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Turkish

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inˈdʒæl/

Verb

incel

1. second-person singular imperative of incelmek

Etymology 2

Unadapted borrowing from English incel. Word rose to prominence in Turkey on October 2024 over the killings of two women by a man with ties to the incel community.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈin.sæl/
• Hyphenation: in‧sel

Noun

incel (definite accusative inceli, plural inceller)

1. (neologism, derogatory) incel

Usage notes

• Two etymologies above should not be confused, as they not only have distinct meanings, but also have their stress placed on different syllables and differ in pronunciation of the letter {c}.

Alternative forms

• insel (phonetic adaptation)