'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Glazing is the latest term that has picked up traction on TikTok. The platform has given rise to a dictionary's worth of viral new words and phrases. While some became pop culture staples and crept into everyday usage, other words vanished entirely. The latest entry into the TikTok slang is the word glazing.
Glazing in real-world usage refers to the act of installing windows and also refers to a bakery product topping. However, the online meaning of the word is something entirely different. Glazing in TikTok slang refers to the act of praising or complimenting someone up to the point of making the person feel superior and the interaction feel cringe.
Outside of the Internet realm, the term has two definitions. According to the Oxford Dictionary, to glaze is to "fit sheets of glass into something," and Dictionary.com defines glazing as "the act of furnishing or fitting with glass." Glaze can also mean the glaze on bakery products like doughnuts. The Glaze on doughnuts is what inspired its internet slang meaning.
What glazing means, and where it comes from
Glazing is slang for overly complimenting somebody or overly praising or hyping up another person to such an extent that it makes the person who is praising look inferior. It can also be used when a person simply over compliments another person for the sake of appreciation or other benefits from that person.
Glazing can also be seen as another form of the terms "kissing a*s" and "sucking up." Such an interaction is often seen as cringe, annoying, or uncomfortable for any bystanders involved. Here are a few examples of the term being used on social media:
Glazing is a term that received its fair share of traction from social media platforms TikTok and Twitter and the live streaming platform, Twitch. According to Know Your meme, the term first appeared on Twitter in November 2021. Twitter user @ratthws replied "he glazing" to a @JoeDaActivist tweet on Donald Trump and Kyle Rittenhouse, captioned, "he d***riding."
Twitter user @isseyboy claimed to be the "proud owner" of the phrase in the reply section to @ratthws' tweet. @isseyboy claimed that the term originated from their discord server named "rigby runtz". Just like a donut being glazed, the term meant that a person was hypothetically glazed by another person. The term took off like wildfire and spread throughout Twitter and TikTok.
Popular Twitch streamers, especially xQc, Adin Ross, and Kai Cenat, and their chat use the word as part of their lingo. Parts of their Twitch streams are also later uploaded to multiple Youtube channels. In a Youtube shorts video that contained a clip from xQc and Kai Cenat's stream, Kai Cenat explains to xQc what the term means.
A casual example can be seen in a clip from xQc's Youtube clips channel, xQc clips. In the clip, xQc reacts to a song about him called "I Miss the Old Felix." Toward the end of the video, when the song turns to a fan cam montage, xQc states that the person who made the video was a "glazington," a term he conjured up for a person who engages in the act of glazing.
The viral phrase joins the ranks of many other TikTok slang words that broke into the mainstream. Some of the popular terms include BDE, Bussin, Cap, ONG, Fit, Gyat, Based, and more recently, Glass Child, which is used to refer to a person who grew up in a family where their siblings were given more love and attention.
