What Does 'Hagmaxxing' Mean? The 4chan Slang Term And Viral Fake Article Explained

Reactionary Statue Profile Picture Twitter had a ball sharing a bizarre headline that invited you to meet the hagmaxxers. The article appeared to be sourced from Vice News, complete with a byline from a Vice reporter with a focus on online extremism, but closer inspection revealed that the entire image was farcical.

But even as the viral post received a Community Note chiding it for sharing a meme supposedly lifted from 4chan, internet users embraced the idea of Hagmaxxing, a slang term they now understood to mean "hitting on millennial women as a younger man."

But the origins of the term hagmaxxing stretch far beyond a one-off 4chan meme. Here's a look at how the term has been used online since the start of the 2020s.

What Does 'Hagmaxxing' Mean, And When Was The Term First Used Online?

The term "hag" is sometimes used as synonym for the word "crone," and is typically used to refer to older women. Meanwhile, -maxxing is a suffix popular in internet slang, finding its origins in incel-adjacent "lookism" internet forums. To be "maxxing" something is to be wholeheartedly embracing and working toward it.

The meaning of the term "hagmaxxing" thus begins to take shape; it's the idea of going all in on being a bit of an old lady. This interpretation can be seen in the oldest known use of the term online; a September 12th, 2021 post on 4chan's /r9k/ forum where someone says, "I dont care about looking old. Im hagmaxxing."

This interpretation of the word is echoed in a February 2024 tweet by user @kinematografi, who leans into the old, witchy aspect of being a "hag" by writing, "listen, you need to be hag maxxing. you need to be living in the swamp. you need to be stirring potions constantly. aweeping away your footprints, wearing rags, installing chicken legs on houses. sending nightmares to children. you need to be obsessed with preserving the forest."

What Are 'Hagmaxxers,' And How Did The Term Gain Traction Online?

Sometime in late May 2024, a screenshot of what looked like a Vice article began making the rounds on X, formerly Twitter. The image read, "Meet the hagmaxxers: Gen Z's new social trend of dating older women." The image was shared by a reactionary Twitter account, the kind that banks on outrage clicks and engagement bait.

Unfortunately for them, it appears as though they fell for bait themselves. An anonymous 4chan user claimed credit for cooking up the fake screenshot, and even posted a high-definition version of the meme as proof on the sites's /int/ board.

Nevertheless, the idea of young men "hagmaxxing" began to gain traction online, especially in the VTuber community, where various women expressed mock surprise and made jokes about their fans "hagmaxxing" by following them. Other Twitter users chided their peers for sharing an obviously fake article, calling it "Boomer behavior" to fall for obvious bait.

What Are Some Memes About Hagmaxxing?

Internet users began editing the fake article into a meme template to share their interpretations of the meme, with some users reimagining who they think are the "hags" and the "hagmaxxers" in this dynamic.

For the full history of hagmaxxing, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.