Slang dictionary
nepo friend
or nepo-friend [ nep-oh frend ]
What is a nepo friend?
The slang term nepo friend refers to a person who is thought to benefit from having a famous or influential friend.
The term nepo friend is often used to imply that someone is only famous or successful because of their association with a famous person. The term may be used playfully, but it is often at least mildly negative.
Where does nepo friend come from?
Nepo friend seems to have been inspired by the popularity of the earlier slang term nepo baby. The nepo in nepo baby is short for nepotism. The term nepo friend commonly implies that a person benefits greatly from being a friend of a famous or powerful person in much the same way that calling someone a nepo baby suggests that they have benefited from having a famous person as a parent (or other relative).
The term nepo friend has been used on social media since at least 2020.
Ananya is not a "Nepo Kid" as her father is still a struggling actor in Bollywood. She is a "Nepo Friend". She is getting all her films as she is a friend of Suhana Khan daughter of Tony Ashai's best friend SRK 🤪🤪
— Moumita Mukherjee (@MoumitaJSR) August 24, 2020
However, the term was rarely used until around late 2022 and early 2023. At this time, the slang nepo baby quickly grew in popularity and nepo friend was used as a spinoff term to refer to people who benefit from friendship with celebrities rather than through familial relations.
I’m gonna befriend a nepo baby and then I’ll be a nepo friend
— nani (@mysacredungeon) December 21, 2022
she’s not even a nepo baby though she’s like a nepo friend turned nepo wife https://t.co/vGErqIrK0i
— kira (@freakcinemas) January 9, 2023
guy on hinge tried to argue that I'm a nepo baby because I co-host an investigative podcast and my dad's a sports journalist and I'm like no no buddy I am a nepo friend (made friends with a producer)
— the haunted megan (@ozymegdias) January 7, 2023
A September 2023 TIME magazine article brought more attention to the term nepo friend by using it in a description of a popular trend in which friends of internet influencers use their appearances in popular social media content to attempt to become influencers themselves.
Examples of nepo friend
Who uses nepo friend?
Nepo friend is often used on social media to (seriously or jokingly) imply someone benefited by being friends with a celebrity or influential person.
why would you wish you could be a nepo baby when you can strive to be a nepo friend
— margie⁷ || pedro posting ⌨️ (@starry_margie) December 21, 2022
the Kylie’s bff thing is getting annoying and boring now. it’s non of our business but her fans who hate kylie shouldn’t forget that she’s kylie’s nepo friend
— ❦ (@kendallrising) September 10, 2023
okay. fine. im not famous or rich. but like. i’m not related to someone that is either!?!?!? like damnnnn man. i wanna be a nepo baby. nepo cousin. nepo friend. something 😭
— Clair Huxtable ✨ (@searCH_mY_NAme) August 30, 2023
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of nepo friend 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 nepo friend that will help our users expand their word mastery.