breadcrumbing

Meaning. Leading someone on with sporadic attention to keep them interested without commitment.

See it in a sentence

He kept breadcrumbing her for months.

How each generation says it

The closest equivalent for this idea in every generation.

Gen Z · this one
breadcrumbing
Gen Alpha
Haven't found the match yet.
Millennial
Haven't found the match yet.
Gen X
Haven't found the match yet.
Boomer
Haven't found the match yet.
Plain English
leading someone on with sporadic attention to keep them interested without commitment

A romantic partner; a term of endearment shortened from babe, popular in the early 2010s.

Short for babe or baby, used affectionately, often for friends.

Big d--- energy: an air of relaxed, quiet, unbothered confidence.

A quirky but harmless trait in a partner that is neither good nor bad.