CNN examines the 'Gen Z stare' and why experts say it isn't rude
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The gist
CNN reported on the "Gen Z stare," quoting psychologists and a Phoenix grocery-store worker who used it.
The term describes young workers going blank when a spoken reply is expected.
Background
The "Gen Z stare" is a social media term for a blank look that members of Generation Z — people born roughly from the late 1990s to the early 2000s — give when a spoken response would be expected, often in retail or service jobs. Merriam-Webster's slang tab defined it earlier this year as "a vacant expression that members of Generation Z give in situations where a spoken response would be expected." It drew wider attention after CNN published a report quoting psychologists and a young worker who described using the stare, and after author Jean M. Twenge discussed it on Oprah's online show. Experts cited by CNN link part of the behavior to the pandemic depriving many children of years of face-to-face practice at an important developmental stage, and to growing up with technology that left fewer chances to practice in-person interaction.
How it unfolded
- date unknownMerriam-Webster's slang tab defined the "Gen Z stare" earlier this year as "a vacant expression that members of Generation Z give in situations where a spoken response would be expected."
- Oct 19, 2026TikTok's discovery page described the "Gen Z stare" as a trend about an interaction where a Gen Z employee, often in retail or service, stares at a customer without responding.
- Oct 21, 2026Jean M. Twenge recounted discussing the stare on Oprah's online show, where a young man named Demetrius described it as a "buffer" for questions like "Can I get a cheeseburger with no cheese?"
- Oct 24, 2026CNN published a report on the "Gen Z stare," quoting psychologists and Sabrina Grimaldi's account of using the stare at a Phoenix grocery store.
Who’s saying what
- Expert
- Clinical psychologist Kamran Eshtehardi says Gen Z feels a disconnect from norms older generations are used to, and the stare is partly protective because many are withdrawn and feel forced to engage with a world that has let them down.
- Support
- Sabrina Grimaldi, 26, says younger people are often expected to smile and be polite even when someone else has been rude, and she used the stare after an older woman in a Phoenix checkout line commented on her feet and said she would have a "fat baby."
- Caution
- Licensed clinical psychologist Matthew Leahy says the stare can reflect uncertainty, anxiety, processing, discomfort or a different idea of an appropriate response, and should not be turned into a personality trait for an entire generation.
- Analysts
- Coach Butterick, a self-described elder millennial, says Gen Z athletes she has coached say the stare is not meant to be offensive, and that for Gen Z and Gen Alpha "neutral avoids negative" because peer relationships are the highest-valued social currency.
Still unverified
Jean M. Twenge writes that there are "lots of rumors" about generational differences in the workplace — such as that Gen Z only wants interesting and meaningful jobs, doesn't want to work as many hours, or will cry when given negative feedback — and that much of this is hard to study.