Slang dictionary
cougar puberty
[ koo-ger pyoo-ber-tee ]
What does cougar puberty mean?
Cougar puberty is the internet’s rebrand for “perimenopause,” a phase when a woman’s body approaches menopause and experiences a collection of hormonal and psychological side effects. These changes might impact menstruation, sleep patterns, mood, memory, sex drive, and energy levels — not to mention cause the occasional unwanted chin hair.
The term cougar puberty references the slang word cougar, or an older woman chasing younger men. But instead of the clubbing scene, this cougar is navigating brain fog and night sweats.
Where does cougar puberty come from?
TikTok creator @radiant.rewind helped launch the phrase into circulation in mid-2025 with a viral video naming this era of life cougar puberty. However, the term actually dates back a few years prior, when comedian Kristina Kuzmic and her friend Amy Pickard coined it in a conversation about midlife body drama and made a YouTube video about it.
Perimenopause, which starts on average in your mid-forties and can drag on for up to ten years, is the body’s slow-motion exit ramp from reproduction. Estrogen levels fluctuate, leading to hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, irregular periods, and the sense that your whole self might be glitching just a bit. It ends when you’ve gone 12 full months without a period, at which point you’re in menopause proper.
Medical guides call it the “menopausal transition,” while the slang term cougar puberty gives it a funnier and more relatable edge.
Examples of cougar puberty
Who uses cougar puberty?
The term is mostly used on social media by Gen X and elder millennial women who are somewhere between their last tampon and their first estrogen patch. Creators and influencers on social platforms use it as a playful way to compare perimenopause to a second puberty.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of cougar puberty like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of cougar puberty that will help our users expand their word mastery.
