The ‘Gen Z Stare’ Is the New ‘Ok, Boomer’ — Here’s What You Need To Know

Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by the Gen Z stare. Actually, maybe don’t raise your hand because it’s kinda cringe to admit that you’ve been given the stare — as it’s basically the same as getting called “Ok, Boomer.”

Let me back up.

A discourse on the “Gen Z stare” is taking over TikTok, and we’ve broken down exactly what this body language means (and how parents can avoid receiving it from their teens!).

What Is the Gen Z Stare?

Millennials had RBF (resting b—h face) and Gen Z, apparently, has the “stare,” which is basically a blank, awkward look that Gen Z gives to people who are being audacious, acting too much, or being downright ridiculous.

According to Know Your Meme, the Gen Z stare is that uncomfortable blank look that teens will give out (it’s the way Sydney Sweeney stared at anyone on the first season of The White Lotus). This expressionless stare is common in social situations or customer service situations, in which an older customer is being rude, obnoxious, or unruly.

In one skit, a Gen Z-er ordered a complicated coffee drink and complained when she couldn’t get it. “What y’all sound like before receiving the ‘gen z stare,” they wrote, adding in the caption, “the gen z stare comes out when there’s nothing nice to say.”

Another Gen Z-er explained, “the gen z stare is when ppl r being slow and u just stare at them bc of how dvmb they r.”

Other Generations See It Differently

Just look at the comments to see how older generations react to Gen Z coining this stare. Like one person, who wrote, “I think it’s hilarious that Gen Z thinks they’re the first generation to ever deal with stupidity or difficult customers, and that’s how they justify the fact that they just disassociate and mindlessly stare into space whenever they are confronted with a difficult for confusing situation, instead of immediately engaging in the situation like every other generation has ever done before them lol.”

“As a millennial I can tell you it’s not this ???? although this is super funny,” one person wrote. “It’s more the ones that literally don’t know how to have a normal human interaction.”

One person made a video showing Gen Z-ers doing the stare at their first jobs. “We’re talking about the stare when anyone tries to have just a normal human interaction with you, like in the flesh,” she said. “And you guys freeze the f— up.”

She said she’s seen this when she tries to say hi to teen neighbors that walk by and “they just look at you like they just saw a ghost and think, there’s no way that interaction is real.” It can be frustrating if this happens to you, but there is a reason for it.

In Defense of the Stare

Gen Z defended this deer-in-the-headlights look in the comments, writing, “I think our generation is done with fake and genuinely hate people, we just wanna be left alone.”

“Why do older people think they are owed my time and energy ???? if I don’t know U leave me alone ????,” another person said.

Someone else explained, “I’m 29, and I get it. It’s anxiety. The world is so demanding and degrading, they’re avoiding shame, embarrassment, any awkward feelings, any feeling at all actually. It’s scary, it never ends at hello, continued hellos become further conversations and familiarity. its hard to keep up the perception of ‘normal’ when you’re perceived.”

Honestly, we get it. With the COVID-19 pandemic, Donald Trump’s presidency, the rise of misogyny and hate, the threat of war, and so much more happening in the country right now, it’s no wonder Gen Z has social anxiety — and no time for small talk. It’s a rebellion against creepy old men telling girls to “smile” or entitled customers acting like they are always right. It’s also a protective mechanism against stress and anxiety, and we can’t blame Gen Z for that.

Anxiety Might Be to Blame

Research has shown that teen anxiety doubled during the COVID lockdown, with 1 in 5 teens reporting elevated anxiety symptoms. In 2024, the National Survey of Children’s Health found that 16.1 percent of teens ages 12-17 were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in 2023, which is a 61 percent increase since 2016.

“During and since the pandemic, there has absolutely been an increase in anxiety among teens,” Samantha Quigneaux, LMFT, the national director of family therapy services at Newport Healthcare, previously told SheKnows. 

“Disruption of daily routines, social isolation and distancing, academic pressures and changes in methods of learning, uncertainty about the future” are all factors that Quigneaux said “strongly contributed to heightened stress and anxiety levels” among teens. “Those ‘unprecedented times’ also left our youth with disrupted critical social and emotional learning environments,” she explained. “This has led to them having to navigate their teen years and young adulthood with [fewer] skills and emotional resources in our ever-changing world.”

So can you really blame Gen Z-ers for staring into the void and not knowing how to react in social situations? There have been times I wish I was brave enough to just walk away when I didn’t want to interact with strangers, so more power to them!

If your teen is going through anxiety or stress, the best thing you can do is to be “an emotionally safe space” to support them, according to Quigneaux. Check in with them, talk to them about ways to handle different situations, and talk to a therapist if you need help.

The next time someone gives you the Gen Z stare, maybe re-evaluate your own actions (are you being rude to customer service? Intruding on someone’s personal space? Making a teen feel uncomfortable for no good reason?), then show some empathy for a generation that grew up in these wild and uncertain times. It’s OK to talk to your own teens about how to react in different social and professional situations, but save random Gen Z-ers, whom you don’t know, from the same lectures. Finally, try embracing the freedom of the Gen Z stare and see what happens. You might be surprised by how freeing it is!

Before you go, check out how these celebrity parents’ tales about teaching their teens how to drive.