mewing — Meaning
Pressing the tongue to the roof of the mouth to supposedly improve jawline definition, named after Dr. John Mew who originated the practice, and popularized online by his son Mike Mew. Example usage: "He's been mewing for a year now." Mewing is the brainrot term that started as a questionable orthodontic theory and became a Gen Alpha identity marker. The practice is named after Dr. John Mew, a British orthodontist who first popularized the practice in the 1970s (whose methods are disputed by mainstream dentistry — he was later expelled from the British Orthodontic Society). His son Mike Mew, also an orthodontist, promotes the practice today and drove its social-media virality. The core technique: press your entire tongue against the roof of your mouth, keep it there constantly, and allegedly your jawline will become more defined. The science is, at best, inconclusive. Mainstream orthodontists generally do not endorse mewing as a substitute for conventional treatment. But that did not stop the practice from going viral on TikTok in 2023, where before-and-after photos of young men claiming dramatic jawline transformation accumulated hundreds of millions of views. The mewing community developed its own subculture, complete with progress tracking, technique guides, and debates about proper tongue placement.