Meaning
A marked, sweeping change in the prevailing cultural mood, after which tastes, styles, and attitudes that recently felt current suddenly seem dated. Used in trend commentary and criticism, and half-jokingly about smaller swings in fashion or consensus. Informal but journalistic; very online. Informal but journalistic, often slightly tongue-in-cheek; by 2023 it was itself sometimes mocked as buzzwordy. Regional use: General English; strongest in US media and online discourse.
Origin
Trend forecaster Sean Monahan, a founder of the K-HOLE collective that earlier coined 'normcore', says he coined 'vibe shift' in a June 2021 post on his 8Ball Substack newsletter, and he retold that history himself in The Guardian in December 2022. In early 2022 New York Magazine's The Cut approached him, and Allison P. Davis's widely shared essay 'A Vibe Shift Is Coming' (February 2022) carried the phrase into mainstream media, mapping past shifts (indie roughly 2003-09, post-internet 2010-16, hypebeast 2016-20) and arguing a fourth was underway. By late 2022 it was being applied to everything from crypto conferences to coverage of the Bank of England, and it spread from US media into general English. Any use earlier than Monahan's June 2021 post is undocumented; the coinage builds on 'vibe', circulating since 1960s counterculture.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- the vibe shift
- vibes are shifting
Usage Examples
- Once the pandemic ended, the whole city went through a vibe shift, and suddenly everyone was dressing like it was 2004 again.
- Critics declared a vibe shift in pop music the year synth-pop gave way to grimy guitar bands.
- The brand's chaotic, ironic ads read perfectly before the vibe shift and feel a little embarrassing now.