FOMO

American  

[foh-moh] / ˈfoʊ moʊ /

Or fomo

noun

Slang.

1. a feeling of anxiety or insecurity over the possibility of missing out on something, as an event or an opportunity.

   If I say no to a party invitation, I get a bad case of FOMO.

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Usage

What does FOMO mean? Short for fear of missing out, FOMO is an anxious feeling you get when you feel other people might be having a good time without you. In the digital age, FOMO often leads to a constant checking of social media to see what your friends are doing.

Etymology

Origin of FOMO

First recorded in 2000–05; f(ear) o(f) m(issing) o(ut)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

FOMO

“I saw the Lilith Fair documentary last year and got FOMO, I kind of regretted not playing” she says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Yardeni: The dot-com boom was driven largely by FOMO, fear of missing out.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

Forget FOMO: Fear of financial regret is keeping younger Americans at home on Saturday night.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Deb says he felt a sense of "FOMO" - fear of missing out - when he was unable to buy SpaceX stocks when Elon Musk's space and AI company listed in June.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

But the pansexual Lestat de Lioncourt transformed them into rebellious, romantic figures, the stuff of adolescent FOMO, as opposed to decaying ghouls.

From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026