Slang dictionary

destim

[dee-stim]

What does destim mean?

Destim is a slang term that means to calm down by avoiding overwhelming stimuli, such as loud noises or stressful situations, as in I went outside for a minute in order to destim.

Destim is typically used in relation to a person calming themself down because they were overwhelmed by stimuli or stress. When a person destims, they typically do something that relaxes them or helps them avoid being overwhelmed. For example, a person might destim by listening to calming music or by going to a quiet, empty space to gather their thoughts.

Example: The party was too much for me, so I had to go to the bathroom to destim for a little bit.

Where does destim come from?

white blue text destim; yellow background

Destim uses the prefix de- in the sense of “removal” or “negation.” The stim portion is short for stimulate. When a person destims, they are trying to reduce their stimulation.

The slang destim has appeared on social media as early as 2009, but it was not more commonly used until the mid-2010s.

Examples of destim

my main concern here is comfort. I sit in one spot with these headphones and use them to destim
@achingjack, July 23, 2017
Watching old classic films is like a visual stim for the eyes. It's so nice to destim and reset to. That old technicolour hits different.
@hammerznpickle, April 25, 2022

Who uses destim?

Destim is used as a slang term online. It seems to be more commonly used by younger people.

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Note

This is not meant to be a formal definition of destim 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 destim that will help our users expand their word mastery.

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