in my feels
In my feels means you are emotionally affected or caught up in a feeling, whether that is sad, nostalgic, romantic, or excited. Context decides which.
By Cal Hewitt, Gen X · Researched from public sources ·
What it means
Feels is a casual, shortened plural of feelings, and being in your feels means you're sitting inside that feeling right now rather than describing it from a distance. Dictionary.com defines feels as an overwhelming emotional reaction, often with a humorous edge, and says the shortening took off online in the 2010s as a playful way to name a powerful emotion. "That song got me in my feels" usually points to something nostalgic or sad, but the same words fit romantic longing, tenderness, or plain excitement. The context, the song, the memory, the conversation, tells you which feeling is doing the work. The tone shifts with who the phrase is aimed at. Said about a song, a show, or a memory, it usually reads as warm: an admission that something got to you, without turning it into a speech. Dictionary.com notes that feels started with a bro-ish, ironic distance and shed most of that edge as it spread, which is part of why the phrase can carry a genuine feeling and a joke at the same time. Said straight to someone, "you're in your feelings" works differently. In a supportive exchange it can mean "I see this affected you"; in an argument it more often reads as a dismissal, implying the other person is overreacting. Wiktionary glosses "in one's feelings" as overreacting or having a strong emotional reaction, worked up, and labels the phrase US and African-American Vernacular. The relationship and the delivery decide whether it lands as caring or as a jab.
See the quick definition in the in my feels dictionary entry.
How to use it
“that song got me in my feels”
Usually nostalgic or sad, about something that moved you. Not aimed at anyone.
“i'm in my feels today”
A low-key way to admit you're more sensitive than usual, without turning it into a whole conversation.
“don't get in your feelings”
Said to someone else. In an argument this usually means "you're taking this too personally."
“this show got me in all the feels”
A shared, sometimes exaggerated reaction in a caption or comment section.
Where it came from
The record for the full phrase runs earlier than most people assume. Kevin Gates released his own song titled "In My Feelings" on December 15, 2014, with the lyric "sometime, yeah, sometime I'm in my feelings" running through it, according to Shazam's listing for the track. An Urban Dictionary entry from May 10, 2012 already defines "in my feelings" as being emotional, "thinking about stuff," which shows someone was using the phrase by that date, though a crowd-sourced entry only proves usage. Where and when it started are separate questions. Drake's "In My Feelings," from Scorpion, released June 29, 2018 per Universal Music Canada, came four years after Gates's version and turned the phrase into a dance-floor moment years after it was already in use.
Know Your Meme's page for the shortened noun feels places its early spread inside early-2010s reaction-meme culture, and reports the earliest instances as rumored to have surfaced on the imageboard Krautchan in May 2010, a date the site itself flags as unproved. The fuller phrase, in my feelings, is ordinary English, in plus a possessive plus feelings, so it predates any single coining, and no single person is credited with starting it. What's documented is a general 2010s internet climate, reaction memes, imageboards, and eventually mainstream platforms, where feels caught on and the fuller phrase spread alongside it.
No single person is credited, the origin is commonly reported.
Where it's popular
General English-language internet use: texts, captions, comment sections, and music or TV discussion. It is not tied to one region.
Wiktionary labels "in one's feelings" US and African-American Vernacular. That is a usage label on the phrase's current speech community, not a documented origin claim.
How it caught on
- May 2010 (rumored, unconfirmed)Know Your Meme reports the shortened slang noun feels as rumored to have surfaced on the imageboard Krautchan, a date the site itself flags as unproved.
- May 10, 2012An Urban Dictionary entry defines "in my feelings" as being emotional, "thinking about stuff," the earliest dated use located, evidence of usage rather than origin.
- December 15, 2014Kevin Gates releases his own song "In My Feelings," with the recurring lyric "sometime, yeah, sometime I'm in my feelings."
- June 29, 2018Drake releases Scorpion, containing the track "In My Feelings," per Universal Music Canada.
- July 9, 2018Time reports the #InMyFeelingsChallenge, sparked by comedian Shiggy's dance video, had prompted thousands of fan videos following Drake's song.
Test yourself
Do you know what's behind in my feels?
0/21. Someone texts you "that song got me in my feels." What's the most likely reading?
2. Who released a song called "In My Feelings" first?
Related slang
Questions people ask
What does feels slang mean?
Feels is a casual, shortened plural of feelings, usually for a strong emotional reaction. Dictionary.com says the reaction can be sad, excited, or awed, not one fixed emotion.
What does it mean to get in your feels?
It means you've become emotionally absorbed in a feeling, often triggered by a song, a memory, or a moment. It marks the intensity, and which feeling it is comes from context.
What's another way to say in my feels?
Plain options include emotionally affected, moved, sentimental, or upset, whichever actually fits. Dictionary.com's point still applies: the right word depends on what caused the feeling, since feels alone doesn't say.
What does the phrase hit me in my feels mean?
It means something, a song, a scene, a memory, caused a strong emotional reaction. The meaning matches in my feels; it's just phrased as the thing acting on you instead of you describing your own state.
Is in my feels the same as catching feelings?
They answer different questions. Catching feelings means starting to develop romantic attachment to someone, per Merriam-Webster. Being in your feels means being emotionally affected or absorbed in a feeling, with no romance required.
Did Drake come up with in my feels?
Drake's 2018 song popularized the phrase and gave it a dance challenge, but it existed years earlier: Kevin Gates released his own song with the same title in 2014, and an Urban Dictionary entry used the phrase in 2012.
Kevin Gates released his own song called "In My Feelings" on December 15, 2014, four years before Drake's version used the same title.
- https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/feels
- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catch%20feelings
- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/in_one%27s_feelings
- https://www.universalmusic.ca/press-releases/drake-releases-new-album-scorpion/
- https://www.shazam.com/song/939817075/in-my-feelings
- https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=in%20my%20feelings
- https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/feels
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