Mewing
Meaning: A facial posture technique of pressing the tongue to the roof of the mouth, supposedly to define the jawline — often referenced as a meme.
Mewing is a real orthotropic technique named after Dr. Mike Mew, but Gen Z turned it into a massive meme. The idea is that pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth will sharpen your jawline over time. In practice, it became a TikTok trend where people dramatically demonstrate the pose, and 'mewing' became slang for trying to look cool or improve your appearance through exaggerated effort.
Examples
- He's been mewing in every photo since he saw that TikTok about jawlines. 自从看了那个关于下颌线的TikTok,他每次拍照都在mewing。Lleva haciendo mewing en todas las fotos desde que vio ese TikTok sobre la mandíbula.あのTikTokで顎のラインの動画を見てから、写真を撮るたびにミューイングしてる。턱선에 대한 그 틱톡 영상을 본 뒤로 사진마다 미잉하고 있어.
- My little brother won't smile in photos anymore because he's too busy mewing. 我弟弟拍照再也不笑了,因为他在专心mewing。Mi hermano pequeño ya no sonríe en las fotos porque está demasiado ocupado haciendo mewing.弟がミューイング中だからって写真で笑わなくなった。남동생이 미잉 중이라면서 사진에서 더 이상 안 웃어.
- She asked why he looks so serious in his profile pic — he was mewing. 她问他为什么头像看起来那么严肃——他当时在mewing。Le preguntó por qué sale tan serio en la foto de perfil — estaba haciendo mewing.プロフィール写真でなんでそんな真剣な顔してるのか聞いたら、ミューイングしてたんだって。프로필 사진에서 왜 그렇게 진지한 표정이냐고 물었더니 미잉하고 있었대.
Pronunciation
Usage Guide
Context: social media, fitness, humor
Tone: humorous, trendy
✓ Do Say
- He's mewing again.他又在mewing了。Está haciendo mewing otra vez.また彼、ミューイングしてるよ。또 미잉하고 있네.
- Are you mewing right now?你现在在mewing吗?¿Estás haciendo mewing ahora mismo?今ミューイングしてる?지금 미잉하는 거야?
✗ Don't Say
- Taking mewing too seriously can come across as cringe — it's mostly a meme now太认真地对待mewing会让人觉得很尬——它现在基本上就是个梗Tomarse el mewing demasiado en serio puede resultar cringe — a estas alturas es sobre todo un memeミューイングを真剣にやりすぎるとイタく見える。今ではほぼミーム扱い미잉을 너무 진지하게 받아들이면 촌스러워 보일 수 있음 — 이제는 거의 밈
Origin & History
Named after British orthodontist Dr. John Mew and popularized by his son Dr. Mike Mew. Became a viral Gen Z meme in 2023-2024, where the technique was both genuinely attempted and heavily mocked across TikTok and YouTube.
Cultural Context
Era: 2023-present
Generation: Gen Z
Social background: Universal
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