1. a situation in which one person has romantic feelings for another, but the other person only wants to be friends
Usage: informal; often used in dating and relationship contexts

1. to treat someone as only a friend when they have romantic feelings for you; to reject someone's romantic advances while maintaining a friendship
Usage: informal; transitive verb

Examples

• He's been in the friendzone for months, hoping she'll eventually feel the same way.
• She didn't mean to friendzone him, but she only saw him as a good friend.
• After he confessed his feelings, she friendzoned him gently by saying she valued their friendship too much.
• Getting friendzoned can be painful, but it's better than pretending to feel something you don't.
• He worried he would friendzone her if he told her the truth about his feelings.
• They've been friends for years, so he was afraid of being friendzoned if he asked her out.