vibe
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /vaɪb/
rhymes: -aɪb
Forms: form: vibes
Etymology: Apocopic form of vibration, vibrator, etc.
Senses: examples: text: The couple canceled their night out when they got a bad vibe from the new babysitter.
text: As I passed the stables and thanked the caretaker, I sensed nasty vibes. It was time to go.
ref: 1998, John Harris, No voice from the hall, John Murray, →ISBN, page 176:
text: I like her. I get good vibes from her.
ref: 2014 July 7, Pat Simmons, Guilty of Love, Generation Quest Press:
text: This place is giving me bad vibes.
ref: 2016 May 24, Matt de la Peña, The Hunted, Ember, →ISBN, page 150:
text: I have no problem with nudity. I'm, like, a total nudist. But that's just not my vibe, artistry-wise. A little mystery goes a long way for me.
ref: 2022 September 7, Elizabeth Wagmeister, “Can Kelly Clarkson Save Daytime? The Host on Taking Over Ellen’s Spot, Touring Again and Broadway Dreams”, in Variety:
text: I'll put up a fight, taking out my earrings
Don't you know the vibe? Don't you know the feeling?
You should spend the night, catch me on your ceiling
That's your prize, that's your prize
Well
ref: 2024, Gracie Abrams, Audrey Hobert, “That's So True”, in The Secret of Us, performed by Gracie Abrams:
text: OpenAI reportedly gave GPT-4o the system prompt to “match the user’s vibe.”
ref: 2025 May 9, Mike Caulfield, “AI Is Not Your Friend”, in The Atlantic:
glosses: An atmosphere or aura felt to belong to a person, place or thing.
examples: text: Once inside, Clayton wasted no time testing his chemistry with the women, kissing Teddi, Kira, Eliza, Cassidy and Rachel. However, not all of his relationships were so easy — Claire announced to the other contestants that her one-on-one time with Clayton was “not the vibe,” noting that he was too nice for her.
ref: 2022 January 3, Erin Crabtree, “‘The Bachelor’ Premiere Recap: Clayton Echard Has 1st Rose Rejected as Salley Quits Before Night 1”, in Us Weekly:
text: I’ve noticed my attitude just hasn’t been the vibe lately. Yesterday I totally lost it at a restaurant because my pasta was only 18 C, which is two degrees below normal room temperature—like two degrees! How could they?
ref: 2022 October 27, Paloma Torres, quoting Potentially Petty/Hot Person, “Advice Column: Am I becoming hotter or just pettier? Paloma Torres answers the age-old question constantly on everyone's minds”, in The Eyeopener, volume 56, number 7, page 3:
text: “I didn’t know how to feel. I was a little bit shocked, to be honest,” Brown says. “It was not the vibe, you know what I mean? That’s the way I always describe it. It was not good vibes.”
ref: 2023 March 21, Logan Murdock, “Jaylen Brown Is Trying to Find a Balance”, in The Ringer:
text: Substack certainly knows this. It tried to raise last year, seeking $75 million to $100 million from investors. But it had revenue of only $9 million in 2021, and a sky-high valuation on relatively little revenue was not the vibe in 2022. The company gave up.
ref: 2023 March 28, Elizabeth Lopatto, “How much money do we think Substack lost last year?”, in The Verge:
qualifier: preceded by the
glosses: Something that is good, trendy, pleasant, or atmospheric; a thing or person with a good vibe.
glosses: A vibraphone.
glosses: Vibration.
examples: text: Water and electricity might not mix, but water and battery-powered fun sure do. Whether you are using a vibe alone or with a partner, in the tub or in the shower, the sensation of intense vibration feels especially nice underwater. Although waterproof vibrators can resemble anything from a lipstick to a kitty cat, most have one of four basic designs.
ref: 2008, Tamar Love, “Turning On in the Tub”, in The Sensual Bath: Soaking in Pleasure and Passion (Sex/Relationships), Sterling/Ravenous, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 86, column 1:
text: But there was still the faint sound of her vibrator humming away under the blanket.[…]Her teeth were clenched, and her hair was looking a little wild. Had she been rolling around under there, rocking herself onto her vibe?
ref: 2013, Erin McCarthy, chapter 7, in Full Throttle, New York: Berkley Sensation, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 97:
text: It's a great idea to get good at using vibrators both on yourself (if you like them) and on partners. For many women, vibrators are part and parcel of good sex. Sometimes you'll like having unassisted sex for a while and then finish off with a vibrator. Sometimes a vibe can be great to add to penetrative sex.
ref: 2016, Allison Moon, “Mapping Your Route: Anatomy & Orgasm”, in Girl Sex 101, 2nd edition, Lunatic Ink, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 117:
text: It was getting harder to keep using the vibrator on her clit while fucking her, so I replaced it with my tongue. My own pussy needed something, so I switched the other vibrator on and worked my clit with it. Really, it took some coordination to keep fucking her with the cucumber, while slurping on her clitoris and rubbing my own with a vibe.
ref: 2020, Jessie Harrington, Forbidden Family Secrets - The Rougher Anthology of 150 Explicit Sex Stories (Fiction), Ronnie Butler, page https://books.google.com/books?id=pG7-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT1231:
text: […] a vibe that has a separate control unit connected by a thin cable.
ref: 2021, Jaqueline George, Make Love to Your Man: A User Manual, Q-Press Publishing, →ISBN, →OCLC:
glosses: A vibrator (sex toy).
Derived terms: vibecession
vibe check
vibe coder
vibe coding
vibeless
vibes-based
vibe shift
vibey
vibist
your vibe attracts your tribe