Slang dictionary
skinny love
What does skinny love mean?
The phrase skinny love has two separate meanings, both of which are linked to relationships. Skinny love can refer to two people who have very strong feelings for each other, but are too shy to show it. It can also refer to an existing relationship in which there’s no love or emotional fulfillment, but only a codependent need for affirmation.
Where does skinny love come from?
The expression skinny love was popularized by the Bon Iver track of the same name, which was self-released as a single and as part of the album For Emma, Forever Ago in 2007. It was written by Justin Vernon, who claims the song refers to past relationships that involved unhealthy behavior.
The expression later experienced a surge of popularity when British singer Birdy covered the song as her debut single in 2011. The acoustic-piano cover was well-received commercially and critically. The song was also featured on the hit show The X Factor, where it was sung by Bella Ferraro.
Examples of skinny love
Who uses skinny love?
Skinny love is mainly used to refer to the title of the song, both the original Bon Iver version and Birdy’s cover. In other instances, it can be used to describe or comment on someone’s personal relationships. It can either be a harbored crush or attraction that hasn’t been revealed or a relationship that’s lost its emotional core.
The term skinny love is often used with fat love, generally by people who have heard the song and now wonder if the expression fat love also has some deeper meaning.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of skinny love 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 skinny love that will help our users expand their word mastery.