Etymology Blend of phone + snub, coined by Adrian Mills at the McCann advertising agency in a brainstorming session in collaboration with the Macquarie Dictionary and a group of selected wordsmiths; subsequently widely promoted by the McCann agency.
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Neologism To ignore the conversation around oneself by focusing on one's smartphone.
Phubbing has been theorized to provoke conflict in romantic relationships because the partner being phubbed feels unimportant and deprioritized compared to the digital content delivered through their partner's mobile phone.2018, Zizi Papacharissi, editor, A Networked Self and Love, Routledge, →ISBN:
Individuals who were phubbed during a conversation, felt less valued, less close, and less important to the individual who phubbed them.2022, Lambert Deckers, Motivation: Biological, Psychological, and Environmental, Routledge, →ISBN:
phub
noun
Etymology Blend of phone + snub, coined by Adrian Mills at the McCann advertising agency in a brainstorming session in collaboration with the Macquarie Dictionary and a group of selected wordsmiths; subsequently widely promoted by the McCann agency.
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An instance of phubbing.
Researchers have found that phubs damage relationships and increase dissatisfaction and depression. About 25% of couples have fought over phubs (Goldberg, 2018).2020, Patrick R. Steffen, editor, Mindfulness for Everyday Living: A Guide for Mental Health Practitioners, Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 93: