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Men have an entire secret language when it comes to describing women they’re dating, or sleeping with, or would like to be dating or sleeping with. If you learn to decode these words, you can get some insight into what a guy’s intentions are with you. There are also some words that only certain types of men (read: ones you should avoid) ever use at all. If you hear a guy describing a woman in these ways, he probably doesn’t respect her. You probably know from conversations with your girlfriends that there is truth to this secret language—when was the last time you had a passionate booty call with a man you described as, “Thoughtful?” Exactly. One word carries a lot of implications. Here are 20 words men use to describe women and what they mean.

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Girlfriend material

Girlfriend material is easy going—she makes a guy’s friends laugh and is ready to go on a spontaneous road trip at any moment. She doesn’t even need to pack makeup. Girlfriend material doesn’t party much (or at all), but she doesn’t mind when her boyfriend does.

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Corbis Images

Wife material

When men talk about wife material, they’re usually talking about a woman who they perceive as more mature than them—somebody they aren’t “ready for yet.” They usually say wife material about a woman who they respect too much to just have sex with.

 

 

 

 

 

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Emotional

Emotional is the mild term men use to describe women who, quite frankly, don’t let them get away with whatever they want. If a woman gets upset because a guy doesn’t call for three days, she’s “emotional.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cute

Cute is another way to explain the girl next door. Cute wears jean shorts and is down to play beach volleyball. Cute does not have a weave or implants or guys constantly blowing up her phone. Cute probably talks to her mom on the phone a lot.

 

 

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Feisty

If a woman is “feisty” she probably just keeps rejecting a guy. Maybe she’s clever and sarcastic in the way she rejects a guy but yeah—it’s rejection. Men prefer to call these women feisty. It’s similar to “hard to get.”

 

 

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Bossy

The only men who ever describe women as “bossy” are men who only like women who are total pushovers. When they meet a woman who doesn’t put up with their BS, they call her bossy. In other words, bossy is the term immature men use to describe women who respect themselves.

 

 

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Image Source: Shutterstock

Nice

Nice means boring. It doesn’t really mean that, but when men say it, it means that. There are many other words a man could use to describe a woman he went on a first date with—fun, hilarious, weird, crazy. But he chose nice. It means vanilla.

 

 

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Enchanting

A woman who is enchanting just isn’t giving a guy the time of day. When you take a perfectly normal, stable woman with a good career and busy social life, and some fool player who takes an interest in her, she will be dismissive, and he’ll call her enchanting. The enchanting woman is hard to get like the feisty woman, but she’s not even indulging her suitor in conversation.

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Mysterious

When a woman is playing a man and a man knows it but won’t admit it, he describes her as mysterious. Yup—that’s why she disappears for weeks at a time and gives vague answers about where she’s been. She’s just mysterious.

 

 

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Ambitious

Men who truly like ambitious women never describe them as ambitious—they don’t say much about their career goals because to them, it’s totally normal that a woman would be killing it. Men who secretly want women who will try sort of hard at their career, but never so hard that they won’t be totally there for their man at the drop of a hat—those men call a woman ambitious.

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Bubbly

Bubbly isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but men usually say this about women who they believe to be naïve and innocent. If a man calls you bubbly, he probably doesn’t show you his true colors (aka when you leave the room he and his friends say some nasty stuff).

 

 

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Exotic

When men don’t know what ethnicity a woman is, they call her exotic. They especially call ethnically ambiguous “mysterious” women “exotic.” If they can’t figure out your ethnic makeup and they can’t get you to sleep with them, you’re exotic.

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High-maintenance

High maintenance is similar to bossy in the sense that, only men who can’t handle someone with opinions and demands use the term. If you speak up because a man takes you to Taco Bell (with coupons) for your birthday, you’re high maintenance. Apparently.

 

 

 

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A good girl

A good girl is what men call nice women who they’ve wronged. Yup—it’s a term they use when they feel guilty about going ghost on a nice woman who didn’t even get mad about it. “She was a good girl.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Image Source: Shutterstock

Down

A down chick is likely into open or polyamorous relationships. A down chick will flash a bouncer so her boyfriend can sneak into the club behind him. It’s like ride or die, but less die(hard).

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Trouble

Men refer to a woman as “trouble” if she has played them time and time again, and they’ve fallen for it time and time again. But men never just call themselves dumb or clueless—oh no—they get played because the woman is trouble.

 

 

 

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Princess

If a woman simply doesn’t want things like piles of stinky, sweaty laundry on the floor, or random drunk friends sleeping on the couch she’s a princess.