# Brainlet > Brainlet is a 2015 Wojak variant meme featuring Wojak with a comically shrunken head, originating on 4chan's /sci/ board as a pejorative mockery of stupidity. Brainlet is a pejorative internet slang term and Wojak variant used primarily on 4chan to mock people perceived as unintelligent. Originating on the /sci/ (Science & Math) board in late 2015, the meme features Wojak depicted with a comically tiny or shrunken head, the visual opposite of "Big Brain" edits[4]. The term and its associated illustrations spread across multiple 4chan boards throughout 2017 before spawning the popular "Mmmm Grayons" sub-meme in early 2018[3]. ## Origin The earliest known appearance of "brainlet" on 4chan dates to December 1, 2015, when an anonymous user posted on the /sci/ (Science & Math) board: "When will science finally find a cure for low IQ? I don't want to be a brainlet anymore"[4]. The post used the word as a self-deprecating label rather than an insult directed at someone else, and it didn't include any custom illustration. By September 18, 2016, the term had gained enough traction on /sci/ that users were already asking "what's with the 'brainlet' meme these days?"[4]. A follow-up thread on October 29, 2016 sought an "official definition of brainlet" from the board, suggesting the word was becoming embedded in the community's vocabulary before it had a fixed visual form[4]. - **Platform:** 4chan /sci/ board - **Creator:** Unknown (community-created on 4chan) - **Date:** 2015 ## Overview Brainlet, both a word and a visual format. As slang, it calls someone stupid, framing low intelligence as a physical deficiency, like being a "manlet" but for brains[1]. As an image, it takes the familiar Wojak face and warps the skull down to a tiny nub, sometimes with a visible pea-sized brain on top. The drawings range from a slightly shrunken forehead to a grotesquely pinched head sitting on a normal-sized body. More exaggerated versions show the character drooling, slack-jawed, or with an elongated neck, emphasizing total vacancy[4]. The meme works as the direct counterpart to "Galaxy Brain" or "tfw too intelligent" Wojak edits, where the character's head balloons outward to signal (usually ironic) genius[2]. Where Big Brain Wojak mocks pretentious intellectuals, Brainlet mocks those who can't grasp even basic concepts. The two formats are often used together in escalating comparison charts. ## How It Spread The meme's visual identity took shape across 2017. On May 11, 2017, Urban Dictionary user TinFoilHatGuy posted the first formal definition, calling a brainlet someone with "an immature, underdeveloped cerebral cortex"[1]. The entry treated it as established slang rather than a new coinage. On June 4, 2017, a "Brainlet Safe Thread" appeared on /sci/ featuring an illustration of Wojak with a microscopic brain, one of the first widely shared visual depictions[4]. Less than a month later, on July 2, a different style appeared on /biz/ (Business & Finance): Wojak drawn with a fully atrophied, shrunken head rather than just a tiny brain bump[4]. This version, with its more extreme body horror, became the dominant template. The meme jumped from niche science-board humor to broader 4chan culture on October 18, 2017, when an anonymous /r9k/ user posted a greentext story: "think for your whole life that you are intelligent / you are actually a brainlet." A screenshot hit Reddit's r/4chan the same day and pulled in over 800 upvotes at a 96% approval rate within a week[4]. The visual language kept escalating. On December 8, 2017, a /v/ user posted an illustration of a drooling brainlet with a grotesquely long neck, pushing the design further into body-horror territory[4]. This long-necked variant became a template for dozens of edits. The most recognizable spinoff arrived on January 12, 2018, when someone on /tv/ posted an edit of the long-necked brainlet eating crayons with the caption "Mmmm grayons"[4]. The deliberate misspelling of "crayons" added another layer: the character is too stupid to even spell what it's eating. A dedicated "grayons" entry appeared on Urban Dictionary by May 5, 2018[5]. eBaum's World published a roundup of "Mmmm Grayons" edits on August 7, 2018, noting the meme "has been popping up for a few months and we still don't quite know the origin"[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Brainlet? Brainlet is an internet insult and meme format depicting Wojak with a tiny or shrunken head, used to call someone stupid. It originated on 4chan's /sci/ board in 2015[4]. ### Where did Brainlet come from? The earliest archived use appeared on 4chan's /sci/ (Science & Math) board on December 1, 2015, in a post lamenting low IQ[4]. ### What does Brainlet mean? It means someone with limited intelligence, implying they have a physically small brain. Urban Dictionary defines it as having "an immature, underdeveloped cerebral cortex"[1]. ### How do you use Brainlet? Post a brainlet Wojak image as a reaction to something perceived as stupid, or use it in IQ tier charts that rank opinions from "galaxy brain" to "brainlet"[4]. ### Is Brainlet still popular? The format is still used on 4chan and in Wojak-based meme communities, though its peak popularity was in the 2017-2018 period when the visual variants were being rapidly created[4]. ### What is the "Mmmm Grayons" meme? A spinoff showing the long-necked brainlet eating crayons with the deliberately misspelled caption "Mmmm grayons," first posted on 4chan's /tv/ board on January 12, 2018[3]. ### What is the opposite of Brainlet? The Big Brain Wojak, which depicts Wojak with a massively enlarged head and visible brain wrinkles, used to mock pretentious intellectuals[2]. ### Which 4chan boards use Brainlet the most? It started on /sci/ and spread to /biz/, /r9k/, /v/, and /tv/ throughout 2017[4]. ### Is Brainlet related to Wojak? Yes, it's a direct variant of the Wojak character, modified with a shrunken head instead of the standard bald silhouette[2]. ### When did Brainlet get its own illustrations? The first notable Wojak-style brainlet illustration appeared in a "Brainlet Safe Thread" on /sci/ in June 2017, about 18 months after the word first showed up[4]. ## References 1. [/tv/ - Television & Film » Thread #93111792]() 2. [8 'Mmmm Grayons' Memes | eBaum's World]() 3. [Brainlet - Know Your Meme]() 4. [Wojak]() 5. [Brainlet - Urban Dictionary]() 6. [Urban Dictionary: brainlet]() 7. [Urban Dictionary: grayons]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/brainlet Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library