I Asked A Therapist To Rate 2025’s Dating Trends

Only just wrapped your head around the concept of “situationships,” and think “ghosting” ought ot be confined to Halloween?

Bad news, my friend: 2025 has brought an onslaught of newer, more obscure dating terminology.

I am referring, among others, to “Banksying,” “Shrekking,” “Zip coding,” and “chatfishing”. And before you ask, no, these are not fun and flirty trends.

“2025’s dating trends have, in my eyes, been quite sad, but they’ve also been mirroring today’s more lonely, selfish and online-focused dating climate in an honest way,” licensed sexologist and relationship therapist and author at Passionerad, Sofie Roos, told HuffPost UK.

Overall, she said, it’s “not the most romantic and passionate year”.

Here, she reviewed five of the biggest dating buzzwords of 2025.

Zip-coding refers to choosing to date someone close to your location, sometimes with the understanding that the relationship doesn’t exist outside of those geographical boundaries (ie, the setup doesn’t stand when one if you is away).

Just as Cosmopolitan wrote that the trend can be more or less toxic depending on the context, Roos said: “Zip-coding is the least problematic trend that came out of this past year, as it’s just an honest insight that your relationship works best if you’re physically together.

“Even though it might not be super romantic, I still think it’s great that some couples can come to this agreement if that’s what works best for you right now!”

You’ve probably heard of “catfishing,” where a person shows an altered or entirely false version of themselves online to reel a partner in.

But “chatfishing” involves using AI to write messages that the “chatfisher” hopes will entice a beau in the apps.

Roos called this “An extremely false and dishonest way of creating a connection, as it’s actually no big difference to letting another person chat with the date instead of you.

“It’s also unhealthy if you want to build a good relationship… Because if someone falls in love with you when chatfishing, who do they actually fall in love with?”

Rather like “trophy” partners, who might look particularly impressive to their partner’s pals, those who have been “throned” were selected by their partner for their social clout.

“Even though throning is false, unethical, and [uses] someone, it’s nothing new at all – we just have given it a new name,” Roos wrote.

“However, both partners actually often understand what’s going on… and they tend to be OK with it as both often gain something from the relationship, even if it’s not genuine love.

“Therefore, I’d say that even though this trend is quite ugly and has nothing to do with real love, it, in many ways, works as a silent agreement between the couple, which makes it sound more horrible than how it tends to play out.”

I have already shared how unkind I find “Shrekking,” the practice of dating someone you find unattractive in the belief that their supposed lack of appeal will mean they’ll stay loyal and devoted to you.

For her part, Roos said: “Shrekking might sound like a good idea on paper, especially in today’s appearance-fixated dating climate, until you realise that you date someone you’re not attracted to based on fear, as you think that if you look better than them…then they won’t leave you.

“This is unfair and unethical towards the other person, and actually tells a lot about your self-esteem,” she added.

“So the best that came out of this dating trend was more people hopefully acknowledging they’re having issues they need to deal with to be able to get into a stable relationship.”

If you’ve ever felt blindsided by a breakup, you might have been “Banksied”. “Banksying” involves planning a breakup without ever letting your partner know, before abruptly breaking things off.

Roos calls this a “cruel way to leave someone,” adding, “while it might save you lots of heartache, it’s calculating in a very cold and evil way that [reveals you have issues you need to deal] with before you go into a romantic relationship again.

“Of all the trends that’s been this past year, banksying is the one I feel worst about, as it makes the partner – a person who’s been there for you – completely defenceless, as you’re already ready to walk out the door while they just got their heart broken.”

All in, Roos ended, “I’d say that it hasn’t been a year of trends stemming from love, but from avoidance.”

These trends reveal a growing desire to “avoid vulnerability, honesty, the risk of getting dumped and the risk of not being good enough,” she added.

“That said, [I] hope we turn this around and get a 2026 with warmer trends that help [to] build real connections and long, healthy relationships!”