The Meaning of Vibe Check: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of vibe check? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word vibe check, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What does the term vibe check mean?

According to Collins English Dictionary, Mashable and the American Heritage Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, the term vibe check is a slang term with two different distinct meanings. First, it can mean a spontaneous or random check in in which someone checks another person’s vibe or feelings on a situation or experience, like the pleasant experience of a check-in from a friend. For the second definition, it can refer to a time in which someone is about to get into a physical altercation with fists or a blunt object while someone is ruining someone else’s vibe or good energy/mojo. This most often means to get a read on a person’s aura, mood or aesthetic. The phrase is used on many social media sites like TikTok.

A vibe check is a random time in which someone checks in on the emotional state of another person. In psychology or sociology, this might be referred to as an emotional check-in, but as slang, vibe check is where it’s at. 

There are many different languages that have their own translations of vibe. You may notice that many of these translations of vibe look and sound similar to the phrase vibe check. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that retain a similar look, sound and meaning. These are often formed when two words have the same root or language of origin. This list of translations of the phrase vibe check is provided by Word Sense.

What is the origin of the phrase vibe check?

The music producer Umru (Twitter user @umru_) first said the first recorded vibe check aloud while planning an event and trying to determine the vibe. The phrase vibe check was what they chose to convey this energy to their graphic designer in the original Tweet. Twitter user @cake_hoarder has popularized this phrase with each tweet. This phrase has become increasingly popular on social media, as popular as the popular GM or good morning.

According to Know Your Meme, the first known use of vibe check in ironic shitposts was on September 15th 2019, in which the phrase was pictured with a violent act. This term was first added to Urban Dictionary in April 2011 by user rastabonez. He used it in a hippie subculture setting, stating that a vibe check is “A process by which a group or individual obtains a subjective assessment of the mental and emotional state of another person, place or thing. Not anchored in or limited to science, psychology or sociology. Grounded in a belief in pachouli, sage, or karma and sometimes veggie burgers.” After Umru began using the term, in May 2019 it was first used on Tumblr by user songsofseparation who posted two images, one of a person in sunglasses holding up their hand and another of a person sleeping with a hand on their face with the caption vibe check. 

In September of the same year, the user starion posted a comic which depicted a  man hitting another with a baseball bat while saying “vibe check.” The violent associations began to gain traction on Tumblr by users including user thesapphicraven, trans-madeline, user thehistorychannel and on Reddit by user ben648, user unfunyman, and others that require a login. There have been many a variation on the meme in popular posts, like the slang term used with the final shot of The Blair Witch Project,an edit of a ctrl-alt-del, a random pattern generator, and more that depict countless memes on meme pages or news outlets to show current feelings.

How can the term vibe check be used in a sentence?

There are many different ways that the term vibe check can be used in the English language to talk about various different topics. Creating and reading example sentences is a great way to incorporate new words and phrases into your vocabulary. You can also try to make flashcards or quizzes in order to test your knowledge of the definitions of various different words. Try using this new phrase of the day in a sentence today! Below are several different examples of the phrase vibe check to help get you started. 

That guy over there is saying some stupid shit in my subjective assessment – time for a vibe check? It’s just karma.

Vibe check on the veggie burgers? I’m down – they taste exactly like the real thing. John spit it out mere seconds after trying it – I don’t know that his present emotional state can handle it. Eren Kalhan just broke up with him. Maybe he just needs cake.

I wish my therapist talked like a human at my therapy appointments. I tried to make a joke by saying vibe check to her at the start of the session but she didn’t get it. I started seeing her September 14th. Now it’s October and I don’t feel like anything’s changed. It always feels like she’s higher status. 

Vibe check on watching the live action adaptation of Cat in the Hat tonight? Mike Myers is my man! Come on!

I tried to vibe check the musician with the guitar over there, but he just gave me a button with his last name on it. What a weird aggressive type of vibe.

What are synonyms and antonyms of vibe check?

There are many different words and phrases that are synonyms of vibe. Synonyms are words and phrases that have the same meaning or definition as another given word or phrase. Learning synonyms is a great way to expand your English language vocabulary and avoid repeating yourself in written and spoken English. This list of synonyms for the phrase vibe check is provided by Power Thesaurus.

  •  vibrating
  •  element
  •  acumen
  •  inner light
  •  mood
  •  sensed intuitively
  •  quality
  •  clime
  •  climes
  •  presage
  •  air
  •  belief
  •  scent
  •  flavor
  •  background
  •  ambience
  •  guesstimate
  •  felt
  •  ambiance
  •  vibes
  •  sentiment
  •  pulse
  •  prognostic
  •  atmosphere
  •  good feeling
  •  vibration
  •  effluence
  •  regional detail
  •  glow
  •  sign of things to come
  •  feeling
  •  climate
  •  touch
  •  ardor
  •  resonance
  •  echo
  •  forefeeling
  •  intuition
  •  chi
  •  affectivity
  •  prognostication
  •  tremor
  •  pulsation
  •  vibrations
  •  aura
  •  shudder
  •  regional character
  •  perturbation
  •  oscillation
  •  ki
  •  sign
  •  context
  •  feeling in bones
  •  agitation
  •  tone
  •  palpation
  •  ecstasy
  •  spirit
  •  tenor
  •  area
  •  auras
  •  twinge of intuition
  •  milieu
  •  attitude
  •  local color
  •  emanation
  •  atmo
  •  emotionalism
  •  appearance
  •  impression
  •  shiver
  •  emotion
  •  hunch
  •  foreboding
  •  thrill
  •  character
  •  quiver
  •  feel
  •  tendency
  •  environment
  •  perception
  •  wattage
  •  inspiration
  •  boding
  •  frisson
  •  affection
  •  intuitiveness
  •  space
  •  commotion
  •  semblance
  •  undersense
  •  sense of place
  •  sensation
  •  good feelings
  •  color
  •  energy
  •  efflation
  •  colour
  •  sense
  •  flair

There are also numerous different words that mean the opposite of vibe. These opposite words are called antonyms, which are also a great way to expand your English language vocabulary. This list of antonyms of vibe check is also provided by Power Thesaurus.

  •  loss
  •  unconsciousness
  •  knowledge
  •  calmness
  •  cheer
  •  hate
  •  sorrow
  •  dislike
  •  joy
  •  insensibility
  •  indifference
  •  insensitivity
  •  sadness
  •  calm
  •  hatred
  •  concrete
  •  failure
  •  question
  •  tranquility
  •  physicality
  •  cause
  •  providence
  •  doom
  •  quiet
  •  depression
  •  peace
  •  asking
  •  apathy
  •  request
  •  lethargy
  •  woe
  •  unhappiness
  •  still
  •  ignorance
  •  numbness
  •  stillness

Overall, the term vibe check is a meme phenomenon that is used to check the emotional state of a friend or person in your vicinity. This can also be used to mean to whack someone over the head.

Sources:

  1. vibe: meaning, origin, translation | Word Sense 
  2. Vibe synonyms – 299 Words and Phrases for Vibe | Power Thesaurus 
  3. Vibe antonyms – 36 Opposites of Vibe | Power Thesaurus 
  4. mashable.com › article › vibe-check-meme-explained What is a vibe check anyway? | Mashable 
  5. Violent “Vibe Check” | Know Your Meme