WAG en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /wæɡ/
Etymology
Back-formation from WAGs (“wives and girlfriends”), mid-2000s.
Meanings
-
(Ireland, informal) A wife or girlfriend of a sports star or other celebrity, originally and especially of an association football player.
In Wimbledon, the tennis WAGs and - just as excitingly - HABs (Husbands and Boyfriends) have been appearing courtside, enthusiastically cheering on their beloved other halves with a degree of style.
2006 July 4, Emma Cowing, The Scotsman:WAGs have taken on a second life in the American sports world, linked to basketball, football and, more recently, Formula 1 and tennis.
2025 July 2, Yola Mzizi, “With All Eyes on Them, a ‘WAG’ Style Emerges”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:They looked her up online and soon began following Ms. Riddle on social media, where she shares her life as a tennis WAG — an acronym for “wives and girlfriends,” popularized in Britain in the mid-2000s to describe, disparagingly, a group of preening, partying women attached to soccer players.
2023 August 30, Jessica Testa, “The Most Famous Woman in Men’s Tennis”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:The World Cup WAGs are a good example of this. The younger girls, nicknamed the ‘hen-night crowd’ and led by Colleen McLoughlin, dance on tables and drink until the early hours while No. 1 WAG Victoria Beckham remains aloof, dining sedately with Ashley Cole’s fiancee, Cheryl Tweedy.
2006 July 2, Lucy Rock, “Bitchiness: It's not just a girl thing”, in The Observer, page 20:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAGs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |