Search
Select the dictionary language
a confident, ambitious woman who takes charge of her career or life, often celebrating empowerment and leadership
What is the origin and meaning of the word "girlboss"?
The slang term girlboss refers to a woman who is ambitious, confident, and successful, often as the founder or leader of her own business, and was originally used as an empowering label celebrating female entrepreneurship and leadership in male-dominated spaces. It was popularized in 2014 by entrepreneur Sophia Amoruso through her autobiography #Girlboss and the subsequent Netflix series, quickly becoming a marketing buzzword for women pursuing professional success. Over time, the term developed ironic and critical undertones, with detractors arguing that it promoted individual achievement within the same exploitative systems it claimed to challenge, leading to its use in memes like "gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss" to mock performative empowerment. Today, it is often used playfully or sarcastically, reflecting both its feminist origins and the cultural backlash against its commercialization.
