Alpha
Declining🧒Middle School🔶Manosphere originDefinition
A casual compliment or roast meaning confident, dominant, or bold. 'Alpha move' is usually a compliment for doing something gutsy. Comes from the (debunked) wolf pack dominance hierarchy that self-help gurus turned into a personality type. Most teens use it as casual trash-talk or hype without any ideological weight.
Translation for Parents
Most teens throwing around 'alpha' are just calling someone confident or bold, the same way you might say 'power move.' 'Alpha behavior' after a friend does something gutsy is a compliment. It's standard roasting and hyping vocabulary. The manosphere turned 'alpha male' into a whole ideology, but most kids just use it as a word. The original wolf study was debunked by its own author, which is a fun fact if you want to impress your kid for about three seconds.
Dad Mode: Likely a Meme
I know this site is mostly jokes. But I'm still a dad. This one started in Debunked wolf hierarchy study (1947) → pickup artist forums (2000s) → mainstream meme. Your kid is probably just memeing. But if you're hearing a bunch of these together, maybe ask about it over pizza.
Examples
“Alpha move asking her out like that”
“That was really bold/confident of you to ask her out like that”
“He thinks he's the alpha of the friend group lol”
“He thinks he's the most dominant person in the group (said mockingly)”
Cringe Score
Your kid will cringe
This is basically just 'bold' or 'confident' with internet branding. If your kid says 'alpha move' about parallel parking, they're fine. If they're building their identity around being an 'alpha male,' that's a different vibe.
Category
compliment
Peak
2022-06
Last Verified
2026-02-25
Sources
urban_dictionary, reddit, youtube