friend zone

friend zone

See also: friendzone and friend-zone

English

Alternative forms

• friendzone, friend-zone

Etymology

Popularized by a 1994 episode of the American sitcom Friends.[1]

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɛnd zəʊn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɛnd zoʊn/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

friend zone (plural friend zones)

1. (slang) The situation in which one is viewed by a potential partner as a platonic friend, which complicates the initiation of a romantic relationship.
   • 1996, Chris Rock: Bring the Pain:

     Every platonic friend I got is some woman I was tryin' to fuck, I made a wrong turn somewhere, and ended up in the friend zone.

   • 2005, Terry Dennis, The Manual:

     Once in a while, you will find yourself stuck in the friend zone. Don't panic, you are not alone.

   • 2007, Helen Salter, Does Snogging Count as Exercise?:

     “Stuck in the Friend Zone,” said Sasha wisely, although I don't think she's dipped a toe in the Friend Zone in her life.

Coordinate terms

• romance zone

Translations

situation

Arabic: خَانَة الصَدَاقَة‎ f (ḵāna(t) aṣ-ṣadāqa) Chinese: Mandarin: 朋友區間／朋友区间 (péngyou qūjiān) Dutch: vriendenzone m, friendzone m Esperanto: amikzono Finnish: kaverisektori (fi) French: friendzone (fr) f German: Friendzone (de) f Greek: φρεντ ζόουν n (frent zóoun), φιλική ζώνη f (filikí zóni) Hebrew: פרינדזון‎ m Icelandic: (please verify) vinasvæði n Italian: friendzone (it) f, zona amici f Japanese: フレンドゾーン (furendozōn) Korean: 어장관리 (eojanggwalli) (from the rejecter's perspective) Lombard: zòna amis f Polish: friendzone m Portuguese: zona de amizade f, friendzone (pt) f Russian: френдзо́на (ru) f (frendzóna), зо́на дру́жбы f (zóna drúžby) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: пријатељска зо́на f Roman: prijateljska zóna f Spanish: zona de amigos f, zona de amistad f Ukrainian: френдзо́на f (frendzóna) Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Verb

friend zone (third-person singular simple present friend zones, present participle friend zoning, simple past and past participle friend zoned)

1. (slang, transitive) To classify as a friend, without any possibility of a romantic relationship.
   • 2015, Wendy Higgins, chapter 1, in Sweet Temptation, HarperCollins, →ISBN:

     The bloke tries to get her attention back, but I've friendzoned him. Poor guy. I do feel bad for the ones who have to try so hard.

   • 2019, Ira Trivedi; Sachin Bhatia, chapter 1, in The Desi Guide to Dating, Harper Collins, →ISBN:

     While being friendzoned is not a problem, what can be a problem is if it's not clear to both people that ONLY friendship and nothing more is on offer.

Derived terms

• friendzoner

Translations

to classify as a friend with no possibility of a romantic relationship

Chinese: Mandarin: 發朋友卡／发朋友卡 Finnish: luokitella kaverisektoriin French: friendzoner (fr) Italian: friendzonare (it) Polish: friendzonować Portuguese: colocar/deixar na friendzone Russian: френдзо́нить (frendzónitʹ)

See also

• LJBF
• nice guy syndrome

References

1. Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani (November 1994), “The One with the Blackout”, in Friends (television production), season 1, episode 7: “It's never gonna happen. […] Because you waited too long to make your move, and now you're in the friend zone.”

Further reading

• friend zone on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English friend zone.

Noun

friend zone f (invariable)

1. Alternative spelling of friendzone