Passenger Princess

About

Passenger Princess is an internet slang term for a woman who is always being driven around by her significant other as she sits in the passenger seat of the car. The term has been used online as early as January 2020 on Twitter and gained virality around April 2022 as TikTokers began using it, seeing another boost in early 2023.

Origin

The earliest known online use of the term "passenger princess" was posted by Twitter^[1] user @ohthatwelshguy on January 31st, 2020, who wrote in response to a photo of his dog riding in the car, "She loves being the passenger princess." The term spread across Twitter over the following years. On October 5th, 2020, Twitter^[2] user @cuteccumberr posted, "A relationship should be 50/50. He drives everywhere and I am the passenger princess," garnering over 1,400 likes in three years (shown below).

Spread

The term then spread to TikTok^[4] in 2021, where it became significantly prevalent in the following years. For example, on October 23rd, TikToker @blakehealey1 posted a video about being the passenger princess, garnering over 4.3 million views in two years (shown below, left). On November 27th, TikToker^[5] @christineleeee posted a similar video, garnering over 3.2 million views in two years (shown below, right).

The term continued to prove popular in 2022. On April 20th, 2022, the term was then defined on Urban Dictionary^[3] as, "A pretty girl that has no other job but to look pretty in the passenger seat while her sneaky link/boyfriend/significant other drives," garnering over 1,900 likes in a year. On June 14th, The Sun^[6] reported on the term.

In January 2023, numerous videos using "passenger princess" went viral as it saw a resurgence online. On January 4th, 2023, TikToker^[7] @dayswithella posted a video on "passenger princess duties," garnering over 1.3 million views in two months (shown below, left). On January 14th, TikToker^[8] @masonshea posted a video calling himself the passenger princess, garnering over 50 million views in two months (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References