Cloaking

What does cloaking mean when dating?

Disappearing from a romantic interest

In dating, cloaking is when a person purposely hides from a romantic partner. It is similar to ghosting, but instead of just disappearing, the "cloaker" blocks you online, including across social and dating apps.

It is unclear who coined the cloaking term, but it gained popularity in the late-2010s as a more sinister version of ghosting. The term comes from the cloaking capability where a person hides with a magical device (think of the Harry Potter and Frodo cloaks).

Reasons for cloaking

There are various reasons for cloaking when dating, including the fear of commitment or breaking up, or trying to end an extramarital relationship. For example, a person may cheat on their spouse, then cut off all forms of contact with the person they were cheating with to end the affair without getting caught.

Just like with ghosting, cloaking a romantic partner is incredibly unkind. Unless you want to leave a bitter trail of exes, you should at least do the courtesy of telling them why you want to end the relationship.

Example

Julia ran into Jason after he had been cloaking her for months
I bet that was not a pretty picture

Cloaking to break up with your gf

Related Slang

Categories

Updated September 13, 2022

Cloaking definition by Slang.net - The Slang Dictionary

This page explains what the slang term "Cloaking" means. The definition, example, and related terms listed above have been manually compiled and written by the Slang.net team.

We are continually updating our database with new slang terms, acronyms, and abbreviations. Want to suggest a new term or an update to this page? Let us know!