Entry · catalog no. 0568
fronting
/ /ˈfrʌntɪŋ/ /FRUN-ting
verb · New York City; nationwide · 1980s
✓ Verified
1.
The full-suffix spelling of frontin' — same accusation, buttoned collar. Used in print where the dropped g doesn't travel.
“Stop fronting; everybody at the table knows you can't cook.”
Origin & Attribution
The standardized spelling of frontin' as the word moved from speech into general print. See frontin' for the history: 19th-century "front" as false face, sharpened into the calling-out verb by 1980s hip-hop New York.
1980s
The posture sense hardens in New York hip-hop
2003
Pharrell's Frontin' era fixes both spellings in print
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
New York City; nationwide · 1980s
Spoken by
Black America nationwide; general print
$FRONTIThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady23 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
72/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
2003
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Pharrell feat. Jay-Z, Frontin', Star Trak
2003
■
+ Cite a sourceA Way with Words, From Pickpockets to Hip-Hop, Fronting Became Slang for Faking
2010s
Also spelled
See also