leave someone on read

• read is a past participle here and so pronounced IPA^(key): /ɹɛd/

leave someone on read (third-person singular simple present leaves someone on read, present participle leaving someone on read, simple past and past participle left someone on read)

1. (Internet slang) To read someone's message or messages and not give any response, particularly on an instant messaging application where a user can see whether or not their interlocutor has read their message.

   Synonyms: leave someone on seen, bluetick

   My boyfriend left me on read yesterday after I asked him to send me a picture of his dog, which made me very angry!

   • 2018, “I Do”, performed by Cardi B ft. SZA:

     Left a nigga on read 'cause I felt like it

   • 2021, Mandy Hale, Don't Believe the Swipe: Finding Love without Losing Yourself‎, Baker Books, →ISBN:

     Usually, when you leave someone on read, it's to send the message that you're upset with them, you're over their nonsense, or you're just not that into them.

   • 2021, Sophie Gonzales, chapter 19, in Perfect on Paper‎, Wednesday Books, →ISBN:

     I'd sent both Ray and Jaz apology messages over the weekend. Ray had responded by blocking me, and Jaz had left me on “read”—not that I blamed either of them.

   • 2021, Katie Jane Gallagher, Unearthly‎, Hidden Bower Press:

     “You've left me on read since one o'clock.” This was true; she'd sent me a long string of increasingly distraught and complicated emojis that I'd flicked away to decipher later. I'm not much for hieroglyphics.