Etymology

golden retriever boyfriend

Today it means: A man who is extroverted and excitable, kind, openly affectionate, confident, happy about life, and immensely caring toward his partner, but possibly naïve or unintelligent. Full definition →

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The story

From Golden Retriever + boyfriend, due to a person with this personality trait ostensibly resembling the personality of a Golden Retriever. Arose on social video-sharing service TikTok in 2021, and popularised in late 2023, but attested earlier (see quotations).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.