Gen Alpha uses slang 'unc' for older people as online searches surge

Gen Alpha is using the slang term “unc” online to address people older than them, and searches for the word have surged, according to the language-learning platform Preply. Preply says the word “unc” now attracts 5.9 million monthly searches and that searches for “unc meaning” are up 74%.

The term was amplified after a viral TikTok last July in which Riley Hardwick said he “just found out I’m chopped, and also unc” after chaperoning a school prom. High-profile examples include Sabrina Carpenter referring to producer Jack Antonoff as unc and Timothée Chalamet writing “TIMMYTIM IS OFFICIALLY UNC” in an Instagram post marking his 30th birthday.

Preply says “Anyone … can be called ‘unc’ if they carry a certain older-sibling or uncle-like energy,” and suggested signs include watching Friends, knowing the Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling, or being baffled by “six-seven.” A Reddit thread compared unc to “OK boomer,” but a Preply spokesperson described kinship language as a form of “linguistic softening,” saying it is “more playful than confrontational.

It can signal respect, familiarity or gentle teasing rather than dismissal.” The term’s wider history and use are contested: the word has long existed in African American Vernacular English, “though opinions differ on how respectful or derogatory it can be,” and some creators such as @kaymcfly have criticised younger users for applying it to people who are not seen as old enough.

Key Topics

Culture, Unc, Gen Alpha, Preply, Riley Hardwick, Sabrina Carpenter