Chad (slang)

Chad is an internet and pop culture slang term for an archetypal alpha male, a young man framed as conventionally masculine, muscular, confident and sexually successful. The term began in 2000s Chicago as a mocking label for wealthy young men from the city's northern suburbs before spreading through online forums and meme culture in the 2010s. It became especially prominent in incel and manosphere communities, where it names men imagined to sit in the top tier of physical and social desirability, often portrayed with exaggerated blond, muscular features, and is sometimes used more critically to suggest shallowness or arrogance. Its counterpart for women is Stacy, and regional or ethnic variants such as Tyrone, Chang, Chadpreet and Chaddam apply the same archetype to other groups. A related figure, Gigachad, emerged in 2016 from photographs of the bodybuilder Krista Sudmalis and became an internet meme representing an exaggerated, invincible version of the same masculine ideal.