glass child
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.72 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
1
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A child who feels "invisible" to their parents due to having a sibling with a serious health condition or disability who occupies a disproportionate amount of their parents' attention.
noun
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see glass, child. (a child made of glass)
Example Sentences
- "On the other hand, TikTok users are sharing their guilt after learning their siblings were the glass child because of them."
- "Missud said the pressure that glass children put on themselves to "keep the peace, be overly self-sufficient and remain the unproblematic 'golden child'" can be extremely challenging to unlearn."
- "There is a story in Roxane Gay's second collection of short fiction, Difficult Women, in which a big, strong man who works in a quarry goes for a walk on the beach and, seeing an extra glint in the sand, discovers a woman made of glass. He falls in love, marries her, they have a glass child."
Etymology
Popularized on TikTok in 2023.