short king en · NOUN
Etymology
Coined by American comedian Jaboukie Young-White in a tweet on 4 July 2018.
Meanings
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(endearing, informal) A man of short stature.
Ace, who referred to himself as a “short king” on the show, had already been familiar to some for videos in which he gave men in Pakistan dance lessons.
2025 July 7, Sadiba Hasan, “Why Is Everyone Watching ‘Love Island USA’?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Jul 2025:Young-White’s paeans to short kings encourage us to confront society’s overvaluation of men’s height, and recognize the guys under 6ft whose positive attitudes render them nothing short of regal. A short king isn’t just any male-presenting person of modest stature – it’s someone who has the strength of character to flourish in the face of conventional male beauty standards.
2019 June 21, Adrienne Matei, “In praise of short men: will the rise of ‘short kings’ spell the fall of toxic masculinity?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 06 Aug 2020:We had a period where you couldn’t move without hearing about “short kings”, although I’m not sure how many Queens actually put that into practice in their real lives.
2024 March 21, Rebecca Shaw, “I will never understand heterosexual dating culture’s obsession with height. Just get a footstool!”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2024:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| short kings | Number=Plur | lexicographic |