Phubbing
Etymology
A blend of “phone” and “snubbing,” the word was created in 2012 as part of an Australian dictionary marketing campaign — the “Stop Phubbing” project, developed with an advertising agency and a lexicographer. Though born as a promotion, it named a real and widespread behavior and entered common use. Its manufactured origin is itself a small lesson in how words can be deliberately seeded.
noun · /FUB-ing/
Snubbing the person you are with by paying attention to your phone instead.
What it names
A specific modern rudeness that everyone recognizes but had no word for.
Example
Dinner turned quiet as everyone started phubbing, faces lit by screens instead of conversation.
Related idea
Phubbing is the in-person cost of the same pull behind doomscrolling: the phone wins attention that the people physically present have lost.