The Glossary
The looksmaxxing glossary.
Plain definitions for the vocabulary looksmaxxing is argued in. Each entry says what the term means, what it actually describes, and what is genuinely changeable — in that order. For the ingredient and label explainers, see guides & reference.
19Entries
05Categories
The basics
The basics
The pillar comes first: every tier entry assumes the scale has been explained, and links back to it.
- 01looksmaxxing meaningLooksmaxxingLooksmaxxing is the deliberate practice of improving your appearance — usually through skin, body composition, sleep, hair and grooming, and at the far end through surgery. The word comes from online forums; the practice is ordinary self-care with a vocabulary attached.Read the entry
- 02mogging meaningMoggingMogging is slang for looking noticeably better than someone beside you: “he mogs me” means he outshines me in a side-by-side comparison. The word comes from AMOG, short for “alpha male of the group”.Read the entry
- 03halo effect meaningHalo effectThe halo effect is a cognitive bias in which one positive impression of a person — often their appearance — colours judgements of unrelated qualities, such as how competent, kind or trustworthy they seem.Read the entry
Ratings and scales
Ratings and scales
- 04PSLPSL scaleA 1-to-10 attractiveness rating scale used on looksmaxxing forums, with named tiers from “sub-human” to “Gigachad”. It is a community convention, not a measurement instrument.Read the entry
- 05HTNHTN (high-tier normie)High-tier normie: the band just above average on the PSL scale, roughly 5.5 to 6.5. Someone read as good-looking without being read as strikingly so.Read the entry
- 06LTNLTN (low-tier normie)Low-tier normie: the band below average on the PSL scale, roughly 3.5 to 4.5. Read as ordinary and slightly below the middle rather than as unattractive.Read the entry
- 07sub 5Sub-5Anything rated below 5 on the PSL scale — the catch-all for “below average”. It is used far more often as a self-description than as a rating of someone else.Read the entry
- 08MTNMTN (mid-tier normie)Mid-tier normie: the middle band of the PSL scale, around 5 — the stated average. Someone read as ordinary-looking, neither noticeably above nor below the middle.Read the entry
- 09chadlite meaningChadliteChadlite is the PSL-scale tier just below “Chad”, roughly 6.5 to 7.5: someone read as clearly good-looking, but not at the extreme the forums reserve for the top band.Read the entry
Methods
Methods
- 10softmaxxing meaningSoftmaxxingSoftmaxxing is improving your appearance through non-invasive, reversible changes — skincare, body composition, sleep, haircut, grooming and clothes — as opposed to surgery or other permanent procedures, which the same vocabulary calls hardmaxxing.Read the entry
- 11hardmaxxing meaningHardmaxxingHardmaxxing is changing your appearance through invasive or permanent means — cosmetic surgery, injectables and hair transplants. In its forum sense it also covers practices like bone smashing, which are unsafe and unsupported by any evidence.Read the entry
- 12mewing meaningMewingMewing is holding the whole tongue flat against the roof of the mouth, with lips closed and teeth lightly together, as a resting posture. It is named after the British orthodontists John and Mike Mew, and there is no good evidence that it changes bone structure in adults.Read the entry
Face structure
Face structure
- 13canthal tilt meaningCanthal tiltCanthal tilt is the angle of the line running from the inner corner of the eye to the outer corner, measured against the horizontal. Positive means the outer corner sits higher than the inner one; negative means it sits lower.Read the entry
- 14hunter eyes meaningHunter eyes“Hunter eyes” is forum slang for deep-set, horizontally long eyes with little visible upper eyelid, a positive canthal tilt and a low, straight brow. The contrasting term, “prey eyes”, describes rounder eyes with more upper lid and white showing.Read the entry
- 15fWHRfWHR (facial width-to-height ratio)fWHR, the facial width-to-height ratio, is the width of the face across the cheekbones divided by the height of the upper face, from the upper lip to the brow or upper eyelids. It describes facial proportion, and in adults it is set by bone.Read the entry
- 16maxilla meaningMaxillaThe maxilla is the upper jaw bone. It holds the upper teeth, forms the roof of the mouth and the floor of the nose, and supports the cheeks and part of each eye socket. In looksmaxxing, “forward growth” and “recessed maxilla” describe how far forward it sits.Read the entry
- 17zygomatic boneZygomatic bones (cheekbones)The zygomatic bones are the cheekbones: a pair of bones that form the prominence of each cheek and the outer rim of each eye socket, connected to the side of the skull by the zygomatic arch.Read the entry
Skin
Skin
- 18PDRNPDRN (polydeoxyribonucleotide)PDRN, short for polydeoxyribonucleotide, is a mixture of DNA fragments, usually purified from salmon or trout, used in skincare and in injectable skin-booster procedures. In a topical product it works as a hydrating, skin-conditioning ingredient for a smoother, brighter-looking surface.Read the entry
- 19glass skin meaningGlass skinGlass skin is a Korean-beauty term for skin so smooth, hydrated and even in tone that it reflects light cleanly, like glass. It describes a finish, not a skin type: the result of hydration, texture and tone rather than oil.Read the entry
Going further
The full dictionary.
Softmaxxing, mewing, canthal tilt, hunter eyes, bone smashing: every term, defined straight, with an honest verdict on whether it works.