daddy issues
nounUS /ˈdædi ˌɪʃ(j)uz/
1
Informal A complex, especially in a girl or woman, originating from an unhealthy relationship with one's father, causing one to behave erratically in romantic relationships.
- Near-synonym: father complex
- I might have to break up with Nora: she has serious daddy issues that she needs to sort out before dating anyone again.
1 more example
- I used to like to note that every girl I had ever loved had significant Daddy issues as a way of highlighting the crisis of black fatherhood.2008 August 20, Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Women who date the “wrong” men”, in The Atlantic:
- Related terms
- attachment disorder