Attachment Style

The recurring pattern — secure, anxious, avoidant, or fearful-avoidant — that shapes how a person handles closeness, conflict, and distance in relationships, formed in early bonding and carried into adult dating.

Breadcrumbing

Feeding someone small, irregular crumbs of attention — a like, a late reply, a plan that never lands — to keep them on the hook without intending to follow through.

Friendfluence

The influence your friends exert over your romantic decisions — vetting matches, weighing in on dates, and shaping who you pursue or pass on.

Ghosting

Ending all contact with someone abruptly and without explanation, leaving them to work out on their own why the conversation stopped.

Intentional Dating

The practice of knowing why you're dating, what kind of relationship you want, and what you'll politely refuse — and using that frame to direct attention.

Manuscript

A long-form personal essay that serves as a dating profile on Anketta. The matching algorithm reads it instead of looking at photos.

Semantic Matching

Text comparison by meaning rather than by surface words. Two people writing about the same thing in different vocabulary still register as compatible.

Situationship

An undefined romantic connection that has the intimacy of a relationship but none of its agreements — no label, no exclusivity, no stated direction.

Slow Dating

A counter-movement to infinite-swipe dating: fewer candidates, more attention per candidate, and deliberate decision windows that replace feed scrolling.

The Ick

A sudden, involuntary feeling of disgust toward a romantic interest, usually set off by a small or trivial behavior that flips attraction into aversion.