Slang dictionary
daddy issues
[dad-ee ish-oos]
What does daddy issues mean?
Daddy issues is an informal phrase for the psychological challenges resulting from an absent or abnormal relationship with one’s father, often manifesting in a distrust of, or sexual desire for, men who act as father figures.
Where does daddy issues come from?
Examples of daddy issues
Who uses daddy issues?
Daddy issues is primarily used of women in colloquial speech and writing, both online and off, and mainly in the context of romance, dating, and sex.
Its connotation varies by context. When used by women of themselves, daddy issues can be earnest, used by women to explain recurrent behaviors in relationships, or humorous, used in lighthearted self-deprecation of those issues. When used by men of women, it can be dismissive or even misogynistic, diminishing undesirable traits in women. Dating advice websites for men, for example, may advise a man not to date a girl with daddy issues. In LGBTQ communities, daddy issues can be used in the context of a man in a relationship with an older man.
Mommy issues is the maternal equivalent, which is used more evenly across genders. It still carries the negative connotation of daddy issues, and it is used to describe emotionally unavailable men. Its sexual implications, however, are far less pronounced.
Given the negative connotation of daddy issues, psychologists generally label relationship challenges with fathers as a father complex, among other terms.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of daddy issues like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of daddy issues that will help our users expand their word mastery.