We can’t blame everything bad and annoying about the online world on “looksmaxxing”. But it has certainly played a role.
“Looksmaxxing”, if you have missed it, is a way to justify being hyperfocused on your appearance as a performance of masculinity. It entered mainstream consciousness in 2024 after going viral on TikTok, Reddit and YouTube, having spawned from the online communities known as “incels” (short for involuntary celibates, this is an subculture of heterosexual men unable to find romantic or sexual partners).
The aim is to maximise your appearance and therefore be more attractive to women. Achieving these goals can be done via “softmaxxing” (exercise, skincare, calorie restriction) or “hardmaxxing” (cosmetic surgery, steroids, and even bone-smashing – a misguided and dangerous attempt to trigger thicker bone regrowth by hitting your chin or jaw with a blunt object).
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But we are not here to talk about that tragic world today. Instead, we’re here to explore how “maxxing” has become the latest verbal tick that turns an interest or a choice into a searchable trend. Just like popping “-core” onto the end of various styles a few years ago (normcore, cottagecore, balletcore…), in 2026, if you can think of it, there’s a maxxing for it.
