FOMO

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Grammarist

The acronym FOMO has been in use since the turn of the twenty-first century. An acronym is an abbreviation that is formed by taking the initial letters of the words in a phrase and creating a new word that is pronounceable. We will examine the meaning of the term FOMO, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.

FOMO is an acronym that stands for the phrase fear of missing out. It has been in steady use since the early 2000s, its popularity fueled by the internet. Someone who suffers from FOMO is afraid of not being included in an activity, of missing a rewarding interaction. This feeling may often arise when reading posts from friends, acquaintances and others on social media. The term fear of missing out was coined by Dan Herman, a marketing expert, in the 1990s. By 2002, the acronym FOMO began appearing in publications to mean the fear of not experiencing life to its fullest. FOMO was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013.

Examples

“It is important to know that Fomo may be worsened by the fact that we are being constantly reminded about what we are missing out on via all the notifications we receive to our phones.” (The Independent)

It’s a celebration of local ingredients and I, too, was celebrating because I checked this one off my FOMO food list. (The Rochester City Newspaper)

They also wanted to know if the frequency of FOMO experiences were related to the Big Five personality traits – openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. (Psychology Today Magazine)

“You only need to attend any local high school awards night to see what some young people are doing and the concept of FOMO does motivate others to follow their achievements,” she said.  (The North West Star)