'-Maxxing' Hits Mainstream in 2026 as New York Times Usage Jumps to 30
Updated
Updated · Psychology Today · Jul 8
'-Maxxing' Hits Mainstream in 2026 as New York Times Usage Jumps to 30
2 articles · Updated · Psychology Today · Jul 8
Summary
30 New York Times mentions in the first half of 2026 marked '-maxxing' crossing from internet slang into mainstream language, after just six appearances in all of 2025.
looksmaxxing drove that breakout: the term, tied to appearance optimization, spread from TikTok and online forums after earlier roots in gaming's 'min-maxing' and mid-2010s manosphere communities.
The suffix is already spawning variants including birthmaxxing, doommaxxing and mindmaxxing, with outlets from The New York Times to The Observer using the coinages in June.
Its staying power remains unclear, though, because many viral suffixes—from '-palooza' to '-ville'—surged briefly before fading into dated or ironic use.