negging

[ neg-ing ]

noun

, Slang.

1. the act of insulting someone or something with a backhanded compliment or with qualified approval, especially as a ploy to lower the self-esteem of a person or cheapen an object before showing romantic interest or making an offer:

   I will not tolerate gaslighting, negging, or other mind games in my love life.

Word History and Origins

Origin of negging¹

First recorded in 1995–2000; gerund of neg ( def ) (in the sense “to give negative feedback”)

Example Sentences

“You have a Republican governor who’s actively collaborating with the left” in choosing not to shut down immigration, Carlson tells Meckler, keeping up his frequent negging of the very conservative Abbott.

From Slate

DeVido’s Emma Wheemer — a weary professor prone to negging people she admires and regretting it — feels like people I actually know.

From Washington Post

Or maybe Soper could just pop into the theater to perform a black box-style show based on her most recent album, “The Understanding of All Things,” in which she winningly dissects a male suitor’s negging in the Yeats poem “For Anne Gregory.”

From New York Times

As Agnes, Katigbak delivers a measured prattle, her negging neither as viperous nor as offhand as Albee’s text gives the character license to be.

From New York Times

Perhaps this was a case of a schoolyard bully negging the kid they have a crush on to hide their true feelings because I’ve been coveting one of those fancy Ember mugs for years.

From The Verge