frontin'

Putting on airs

Frontin' is slang for putting on a false front—pretending to be something you're not, usually to impress others or hide insecurity.

Someone who's frontin' might fake wealth, toughness, or indifference: Why you frontin' like you don't care?

The term comes from hip-hop culture and implies the speaker sees through the act.

Also spelled fronting.

pretense

faking

Simulating something false

posingAssuming an attitude
flexingContracting muscles voluntarily
stuntingArresting natural growth

pretending · bluffing · faking it · showing off · image · facade · mask · phoniness · cap · perpetrating

hiphop

Pharrell

2004Early twenty-first century
braggadocioVain, empty self-promotion
swaggerConfident, boastful manner

Jay-Z · stunting · bling · flossing · shine · ice · drip · flex · clout · status

confrontation

calling out

Publicly confronting behavior

challengingHard to accomplish
stepping toConfronting someone provocatively
checkingAct of verification

disrespecting · testing · beef · tension · standoff · provocation · face-off · aggression · intimidation · posturing

Opposites

authenticity

frontin'straight up

Undiluted and unchilled

no cap · keeping it real · authentic · real talk · being honest

emotional honesty

frontin'confessing

Admitting to a fault

coming clean · opening up

social honesty

frontin'being honest

Stating facts sincerely

telling it like it is · transparency · coming clean

Phrases

frontier settlersThose colonizing undeveloped territory
final frontierLast unexplored territory
frontier townSettlement at expansion's edge
western frontierBoundary toward the west
frontier justiceExtralegal punishment in lawless regions
the final frontier

Family

fronting, confronting, affronting, frontier, frontiers, frontiersman

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG