ran through
Ran through is a derogatory slang term for someone, usually a woman, whom the speaker believes has had many sexual partners, used to call them used up.
By Cal Hewitt, Gen X · Researched from public sources · ·
What it means
Calling someone ran through is a sexual insult. The speaker is claiming the person has had so many partners that they are used up or less worth dating, and the number behind it is whatever the speaker decides. Axis, in its parent's guide to teen slang, defines it as a derogatory term for somebody who is sexually active with a lot of people. Most uses aim it at women. Madeleine Holden, writing about the term in 2025, says it always refers to a woman, although a 2021 Urban Dictionary entry applies it to any gender. How it lands depends on direction. Sent straight to someone, "everyone knows you're ran through" is targeted slut-shaming. Said about someone, as in "she's ran through", it works as gossip, a warning to a friend or a verdict that she is not girlfriend material, and it is still a put-down. The Atlantic reported in 2025 that some Gen Z men, especially those into manosphere content, use it more loosely as a general insult for women who post revealing photos or dance on TikTok, with no information about their sex lives at all. A University of Missouri dissertation records a young Black woman describing the double standard behind it: women get called "used" or "ran through" while men with the same history get called players. It sits next to body count, and the two do different jobs. Body count is the number of partners someone has had, and people often state their own plainly. Ran through is the judgment that the number is too high. The phrase is rude in any setting, and if you need the plain fact, "has had many sexual partners" says it without the insult.
See the quick definition in the ran through dictionary entry.
How to use it
“everyone knows you're ran through”
Said straight to someone. A targeted sexual insult, close to slut-shaming.
“bro she's ran through, don't wife her”
Said about someone to a friend. A dating verdict built on a claim about her sexual history.
“they're calling her ran through over one dance video”
The loose use The Atlantic describes, aimed at a woman with no information about her sex life.
“can you run through the numbers with me real quick”
The everyday phrasal verb. Numbers are the object, so it means going over them.
Where it came from
Ran through grew out of the ordinary phrasal verb run through, as in passing through a place or piercing someone with a blade, stretched into a sexual metaphor. Wiktionary lists "to have sex with" among the senses of run through and labels that sense slang. The insult keeps "ran" where standard grammar would use "run", as in "she's ran through", and that fixed form is the one people use for it. No single coiner is documented.
The oldest dated record is an Urban Dictionary entry from August 8, 2006, describing women with many sexual partners. The earliest dated song is Scarface's "Girl You Know" featuring Trey Songz, released December 11, 2007 on the Step Up 2 the Streets soundtrack, whose lyrics as transcribed by SonicHits include "you been ran through" about a woman's sexual history. Playboi Carti's 2018 song "High School" uses the phrase the other way round, with the rapper as the one who has been with many women.
By 2025 the insult was common enough that The Atlantic covered it in a piece on Gen Z dating language, and Axis lists it in its parent's guide to teen slang. In September 2026 a Reddit r/GrammarPolice thread titled "She is ran through" drew about 70 comments arguing over the grammar of the fixed form.
No single person is credited, the origin is commonly reported.
- https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ran-through
- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/run_through
- https://music.apple.com/us/song/girl-you-know-feat-trey-songz/272493409
- https://sonichits.com/video/Scarface_feat._Trey_Songz/Girl_U_Know_%28Remix%29
- https://readdork.com/lyrics/playboi-carti-high-school
Where it's popular
English-language social media, especially TikTok comments, dating discussions, manosphere content and group chats. It is not tied to a region.
How it caught on
- August 8, 2006The oldest dated Urban Dictionary entry for ran through defines it for women with many sexual partners.
- December 11, 2007Scarface's "Girl You Know" featuring Trey Songz is released on the Step Up 2 the Streets soundtrack, with the lyric "you been ran through".
- 2018Playboi Carti's "High School" uses "been ran through" with the rapper as the one who has had many partners.
- 2021Wiktionary's dated quotation for the slang sense "to have sex with" comes from the crime fiction anthology Jukes & Tonks.
- August 3, 2025Madeleine Holden publishes an essay on the term and on body count, describing ran through as a word for women.
- September 2025The Atlantic reports the phrase in use among some Gen Z men, especially in manosphere spaces, and its spread into insults about women on TikTok.
- September 9, 2026An r/GrammarPolice thread titled "She is ran through" draws about 70 comments arguing over the grammar of the phrase.
Common mix-ups
In ordinary English, run through means to rehearse, go over something, use up money fast, move through a place or pierce someone with a blade, and Wiktionary lists all of those. When a person is the one described, as in "she's ran through" or "he's been ran through", the sentence is using the slang insult. The "ran" where standard grammar has "run" is part of that fixed phrase, so a message written that way is making the sexual claim.
Test yourself
Can you read ran through?
0/21. A group chat message says "everyone says she's ran through". What is being claimed?
2. How is ran through different from body count?
Related slang
Questions people ask
What does "being ran through" mean in slang?
It means the speaker believes the person, usually a woman, has had a lot of sexual partners and is calling her used up because of it. It is an insult about her sexual history, and the number behind it is whatever the speaker decides.
What does "ran thru" mean in urban dictionary?
The same thing as ran through; thru is only the short spelling. Urban Dictionary's entries, the oldest dated August 8, 2006, describe a person, most often a woman, with many sexual partners, in derogatory terms.
What does "running through" mean in slang?
Usually its everyday meanings: going over something quickly, using money up fast or moving through a place. Wiktionary also lists a slang sense, to have sex with someone, and the insult uses the fixed form ran through about a person.
What does "through" mean in slang?
Through carries the insult only as part of the full phrase ran through, said about a person, as in "she's ran through". By itself it keeps its ordinary meaning.
What does ran through mean for a guy?
The same claim, that he has had many sexual partners. A 2021 Urban Dictionary entry applies it to any gender, and some people say it about men, but most uses aim it at women, and Madeleine Holden's 2025 essay describes it as a word for women.
Is ran through the same as body count?
They are related. Body count is the number of sexual partners someone has had, and people often state their own. Ran through is the judgment that the number is too high and makes someone less worth dating, which is why it lands as an insult.
Urban Dictionary's oldest entry for ran through is dated August 8, 2006, more than a year before Scarface's "Girl You Know" put "you been ran through" on the Step Up 2 the Streets soundtrack.
- https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ran-through
- https://axis.org/resource/a-parents-guide-to-teen-slang-back-to-school-edition/
- https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2025/09/gen-z-sex-dating-language/684357/
- https://mospace.umsystem.edu/bitstreams/2d2ca6ac-9211-418c-a5e7-f93fd16326b9/download
- https://madeleineholden.substack.com/p/does-sleeping-with-lots-of-men-leave
- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/run_through
- https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/run-through_1
- https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/run-through
- https://music.apple.com/us/song/girl-you-know-feat-trey-songz/272493409
- https://sonichits.com/video/Scarface_feat._Trey_Songz/Girl_U_Know_%28Remix%29
- https://readdork.com/lyrics/playboi-carti-high-school
- https://www.reddit.com/r/GrammarPolice/comments/1wbfgxb/she_is_ran_through/
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