社死

shè sǐ

Social death — an extremely embarrassing moment that makes you want to disappear.

Origin

Short for 社会性死亡 (social death). Became popular around 2020-2021 as Gen Z embraced sharing embarrassing moments online.

Examples

I called my teacher "mom" in class — total 社死.

我当众摔了一跤，社死了。(I fell in public — social death.)

Related terms

红温

hóng wēn

Literally 'red temperature' — slang for losing emotional control, getting so angry, frustrated, agitated, or embarrassed that your face flushes red; the closest English equivalent is gaming's 'getting tilted.'

绝绝子

jué jué zǐ

Absolutely amazing / Absolutely terrible — an emphatic expression that can be positive or negative depending on context.

EMO/emo

emo

Feeling down, sad, or melancholic — used when experiencing a wave of negative emotions.

牛/牛逼

niú / niú bī

Awesome / badass — strong praise for something impressive or someone skilled.