being friend-zoned; being seen as just a nice person, not a romantic interest
Colloquial term for when someone is liked only as a friend, not as a potential romantic partner. Often used in casual conversation about dating.
When I confessed to him, I ended up just being friend-zoned.
To avoid ending up in the friend zone, let's be more proactive in our approach.
More formal and direct way to say 'not considered as a romantic interest'; いい人どまり is softer and more colloquial.
Common colloquial spelling using いい and どまり.
Alternate spelling using the kanji 止 for どまり.
Spelling using 良い for いい; slightly more formal.
Compound of いい人 (nice person) and どまり (stopping at, from 止まる). The phrase literally means 'stopping at being a nice person,' implying no further romantic development.