“Mid” as internet slang for “mediocre” has developed quite a long history of being weaponized to dismiss women’s appearances, whether it’s jokes about “mid-offs” or memes that show men negging women they’re seemingly obsessed with.
The “Beautiful Mid” meme is yet another example of mostly men trying to deliver a compliment that can’t help but contain a dig. The premise is this: so-called “beautiful mids” are women who are “cute” or “beautiful” but, crucially, not “hot.”
Here’s a closer look at how the internet slang term was devised and how it spread online over recent years.
What’s The Origin of the Phrase Beautiful Mid?
The term “mid” initially began as weed slang, denoting mid-tier marijuana, as early as the mid-2000s before moving into music discourse and general internet usage.
By 2020, the word had primarily latched itself to women. A 2020 quote tweet reading, “these women having a mid off,” mocked two women trading selfies, and in 2022, memes like “She’s Mid but I Like Her” began making the rounds online.
In September 2023, X user @KILLTOPARTY posted a photo of a conventionally attractive woman, captioned, “Every man simply wants a beautiful mid to call his own. Women will not understand this.” The September 9th post gathered over 9,100 likes in two weeks.
How Did the Beautiful Mid Meme Spread Online?
The meme quickly splintered into parody and backlash. On September 10th, 2023, X user @Solleno mocked the phrase with a gender-swapped version: “Every woman simply wants a beautiful mid to call her own,” gathering over 760 likes.
Others were more direct. That same day, X @GeebMinister reposted @KILLTOPARTY’s tweet and wrote, “People that talk like this need to be dropped off in the middle of the Sahara,” raking in over 3,000 likes.
Unmoved, @KILLTOPARTY doubled down on September 14th and posted a photo of actor Henry Cavill and his girlfriend Natalie Viscuso, joking about how “Every man wants a beautiful mid to call his own.” The post racked up 8,200 likes, reframing Viscuso (again, perceived by many as conventionally attractive) as somehow mid. The implication wasn’t that she was unattractive, just hotness-neutral.
What Are Some Viral Examples of So-Called “Beautiful Mids”?
One of the most viral “Beautiful Mid” memes came about in 2025, when an old VSCO photo of a woman named Evelyn Smith smiling at a restaurant was repurposed by meme accounts.
On April 18th, X user @TheDimitriT reposted the image with the caption “all a man really needs in this life is a beautiful mid to call his own.” It was a direct nod to the original meme and pulled over 113,000 likes, elevating Smith into the unasked-for canon of beautiful mids.
For the full history of memes about Beautiful Mids, be sure to check out Know Your Meme’s encyclopedia entry for more information.