Remember those ugg boots, the ‘girl boss’ coffee mugs, and the ‘live, love, laugh’ signs? Yeah, those are cheugy now. Cheugy, it is as hard to particularly define this term as straightforward it is to spot someone or something cheugy. This term first came into notice when it suddenly blew up on TikTok and gained popularity. The word ‘cheugy’ (pronounced as “chew-gee”) is dominantly used to refer to something which is very old or outdated and not trendy anymore, or maybe even ‘trying too hard’ mostly in a millennial sort of way.
According to the so-called ‘inventor’ of the term, who is a 23 years old software developer too, these things were considered cheugy in her high school day- chevron prints, “Live Laugh Love”-style home décor, Rae Dunn pottery (literally something all moms were obsessed with!).
The word itself became mainstream when Ms.Cain, a famous Los Angeles-based copywriter, posted a TikTok about it. “It was a category that didn’t exist,” she said. “There was a missing word on the edge of my tongue and nothing to describe it, and ‘cheugy’ came to me. How it sounded fit the meaning.”
Some other things which are considered cheugy, as declared by the Times, include emoji merchandise; these are just ugly; why even consider buying them? Huge inflatable garden/yard decorations, herbal essence shampoos, and Dancing with the Stars; yes, we are talking about the show. One may ask, ‘what do these things have in common?’ The fact remains, nothing but weirdly enough, it seems as if they all fall in the same palette.
See how it is so confusing to exactly point out what is cheugy and what isn’t? this is because we do not have any solid definition of the term itself, and it seems as if the people on the internet have taken it upon themselves to declare which things are cheugy and what is not.
While cheugy is a term used more towards women, BOYS CAN BE CHEUGY TOO! The barstool games? Cheugy. “Saturdays are for boys” logo? Cheugy. Long board shorts? Big-time cheugy. The bulky double ‘Gs’ Gucci belt? Again, cheugy! Safe to say, it is not a term that is specified to a particular gender.
Although while the word has a certain negative aura around it, Ms.Cain suggests differently, “It’s also totally open to your interpretation,” said Ms.Cain. “I’ll send something to our group chat and be like, ‘Is this cheugy?’ and some will say ‘yes’ and some will say ‘no.’ This is, in fact, true. Cheugy is not universally classified; rather, it’s an opinion. Take the example of low-rise jeans, they may have been considered cheugy in the past few years, but they are back in style and more popular than ever. Hence, they are not cheugy anymore.
Well, then one may ask, ‘what is not cheugy?’ because apparently everything is being termed as cheugy on the internet. and to answer that, Gaby Rasson, who takes credit for coming up with the word back in 2013 when she was in Beverly Hills High School, told the Times, “Looking good for yourself and not caring what other people think, that confidence exudes non-cheugyness.” However, you get that printed and frame it or use it as wallpaper, cheugy alert!
One of the TikTokers said, ‘we all have a little bit of cheugy in us,’ and they are certainly not wrong. As mentioned before, cheugy is just an aesthetic dividing term used by people who have this urge to classify everything and anything under special segments. The truth is that nothing and everything can be cheugy. It just depends on how one uses it.
Cheugy is not a hard and fast rule that should stop one from doing something they truly want to. Be as “cheugy” as you want to be. It’s a fun trend right now, and with so many trends coming up every single day, this one, too, shall pass away as fast as it came.
Maybe even writing this article was cheugy? Who really knows, though?
