“Airball” Is How TikTokers are Mocking Folks Who Shoot Their Shot and Fail

If you browse through TikTok long enough, you're undoubtedly going to come across some nomenclature that doesn't immediately make sense. For instance, if you see influencers on the application talking about "GMV" or making clips talking about "GMO."

It isn't just acronyms that have social media users scratching their heads, but also words that seem to have been repurposed. Like the term "airball" — what's the meaning behind that?

To fully appreciate what airball means in context of TikTok posts and comments, you'll have to understand the meaning behind the term "shoot your shot."

The latter terminology refers to an instance where someone attempts to initiate a flirtatious conversation with someone online.

This could be in the comments section of someone's post, or perhaps a DM that they sent to an individual. Furthermore, airballs can be caught in person as well. Like if someone tries making a move on someone that they like and they're clearly getting rejected.

There are a number of TikToks that have made light of the specific type of embarrassment that comes with being rejected by someone an individual is romantically interested in.

Perhaps the bit of schadenfreude folks get from ridiculing those who attempt to try and profess their feelings from someone is a defense mechanism.

Furthermore, it could also be viewed as a commentary on an individual's utter lack of self-awareness and inability to either "read the room" or not appropriately gauge another person's potential feelings for them. Or, rather, the complete lack thereof.

One such example of a real-life airball can be seen below. It was posted by TikTok user @jerkxyita. In the video, two teenagers can be seen standing together in front of a camera and posing for a picture. The boy and girl appear to both be wearing similar outfits and matching black leggings.

Initially, the young man kisses the forehead of the girl who laughs and smiles, then, he attempts to go in for a kiss on her lips but she recoils and looks toward the camera, pulling away. "Holy air ball," a text overlay in the video reads, as the rest of the clip cuts to two pieces of video footage showing NBA players missing shots at the rim by a mile.

In another TikTok utilizing this specific terminology, a video clip that appears to be from a film or TV program shows a young man screaming into a phone and then tossing it behind him in anger. An on-screen caption reads: "when u comment on a bih post n u wake up to 341 replies to 'airball.'"

In another post, a TikToker discusses the ignominy and false raised hopes of receiving a notification of a reply to a comment they left on someone's post. Initially, they believed it was possibly the person they found attractive responding to their message.

However, instead, it was just another TikTok user stating that their comment was unfortunately, an airball. As in they shot their shot and missed terribly.