Cute Aggression
Etymology
A modern psychological coinage, brought to prominence by researchers Oriana Aragón and Rebecca Dyer around 2013. It joins "cute" (a shortening of "acute," which drifted from "clever" to "endearing") with "aggression" (from Latin "aggredi," to approach or attack). It is classed as a "dimorphous expression" — a negative-seeming outlet thought to help regulate an overload of positive feeling.
noun phrase · /KYOOT uh-GRESH-uhn/
The urge to squeeze, pinch, or playfully "devour" something you find overwhelmingly adorable.
What it names
A handle for a strange but common experience — the aggressive-seeming impulse ("I could just eat you up") triggered by cuteness rather than hostility.
Example
One look at the puppy and she felt a jolt of cute aggression, hands clenching as if to squeeze it.
Related idea
Ordinary tenderness softens you toward the adorable; cute aggression is the odd opposite-seeming impulse to clench or squeeze, believed to rein in an overwhelming rush of delight.