MeToo

American

[mee-too] / ˈmiˈtu /

Also #MeToo or Me Too

noun

a social media hashtag of solidarity used by survivors of sexual harassment and sexual assault in a public disclosure of a past or current personal experience in order to demonstrate the prevalence of abuse.

I never reported my boss because I couldn’t afford to lose my job. #MeToo
a social movement drawing attention to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and other abuses of authority, especially those resulting from gendered power imbalances in social institutions.

MeToo is revealing the tragic common thread in the lives of Hollywood stars, short-order cooks, soldiers, prisoners, students, etc.—no corner of society is immune to this epidemic of abuse.

adjective

relating to or noting this social movement: a powerful #MeToo spokesperson;

the MeToo era;
a powerful #MeToo spokesperson;
the Me Too backlash.

verb (used with object)

MeToo’d, MeTooed, MeTooing

to identify or accuse (one’s abuser) publicly in a claim of sexual harassment or sexual assault: Everyone warned her that MeTooing the chair of her dissertation committee would ruin her academic career.

How should celebrities who’ve been MeToo’d make amends and start over?
Everyone warned her that MeTooing the chair of her dissertation committee would ruin her academic career.

Etymology

Origin of MeToo

Coined in 2006 by Tarana Burke, African American civil rights activist (born 1973)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But its treatment in general showed "there are still areas where the #MeToo movement has not yet breached the sound barrier, chiefly in men's football," she added.

From Barron's

Gen Z and younger Millennials discovered “Top Model” during the pandemic, necessitating a reconsideration of the reality competition post-#MeToo and in the wake of the body positivity movement.

From Salon

Maybe I’m just very jaded, but as I look around the world — everyone after #MeToo was like, “Oh, did we cancel all the men?”

From Los Angeles Times

Raman previously worked at a women’s rights organization formed in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement before becoming a council member.

From Los Angeles Times

Sophie, who now works as a presenter and producer, believes the fashion industry has changed for the better, hailing the #MeToo movement as the "biggest defining thing", rather than Tyra.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023