# Dank Memes
Dank Memes is an ironic slang term for viral online in-jokes and image macros that are intentionally bizarre or so overused they turned cliché. The phrase started spreading in 2013 through YouTube parody videos and Reddit posts, with the word "dank" borrowed from cannabis slang to mean "cool" or "great" in a self-mocking way.
## Overview
Dank Memes is an ironic label for viral internet media and in-jokes that are intentionally weird or have burned out their comedic value to the point of being cliché. The word "dank," originally slang for high-quality marijuana, gets used satirically as a synonym for "cool" or "good"[3]. The tag sits between sincere praise and self-aware mockery, letting posters call something great while implying it is already past its prime.
Visually the term attaches to a wide grab bag of formats: crude image macros, absurdist edits, low-effort text posts, and montage parody videos. There is no single visual template for a dank meme. What ties the category together is attitude, an embrace of the weird, the overused, and the deliberately trashy[1]. Urban Dictionary entries from users echo that read, defining dank memes as anything from the "highest category of dank" to a running joke about Shrek, Pepe, and Harold[4].
## How It Spread
On January 3, 2014, the /r/dankmemes subreddit was created, growing to more than 550,000 members over the following twelve years[1]. Reddit did much of the early lifting for the term. On September 23, 2014, Redditor xEphr0m posted a gnome child image macro to /r/funny with the caption "born just in time to browse dank memes." A week later, Redditor 369DAMNyoFINE followed with an image of a young child in police officer garb writing a ticket for a meme that "wasn't dank enough"[3].
YouTube kept the momentum going. On October 24, 2014, Juston Bibero uploaded a montage parody titled "9gagger can't handle the dank memes," pulling over 52,000 views and 150 comments in its first two months. On December 4 of that year, a /r/OutOfTheLoop thread titled "What are 'dank memes'?" appeared, the usual signal that a slang term had spread past its origin community.
The definition reached mainstream television on May 21, 2016, when YouTuber scumrider clipped a segment from the Australian news show Insiders in which journalist Denis Atkins read the Know Your Meme entry for "dank meme" aloud on air. The clip pulled more than 598,000 views and 1,200 comments within 48 hours, and Redditor stickpeted reposted it to /r/youtubehaiku the next day for upwards of 1,200 upvotes[1].
## How to Use
Dank memes work as a label rather than a fixed template. Common convention is to apply the term to content that is intentionally low-effort, edgy, absurdist, or so worn out it circles back to being funny again. Users typically post such content to communities like /r/dankmemes with minimal commentary, often layering ironic distance over already-tired formats like Success Kid or the gnome child image macro[1].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Dank Memes?
Dank Memes is an ironic slang term for internet memes that are intentionally weird or so overplayed they turned cliché, with "dank" borrowed from cannabis slang to mean "cool"[3].
### Where did Dank Memes come from?
The exact origin is unknown, with speculation pointing to 4chan's /s4s/ board, Reddit's /r/2007scape, or the YouTube montage parody scene; the earliest recorded video usage came from YouTuber fennthulhu in May 2013[2].
### What does Dank Memes mean?
The phrase describes memes that are either bizarre or have burned out their comedic value, using "dank" (originally marijuana slang) as a satirical stand-in for "cool" or "great"[4].
### How do you use Dank Memes?
The label gets applied to any meme content that is edgy, absurdist, or self-consciously overused, most often posted in communities like /r/dankmemes with little added commentary[1].
### Is Dank Memes still popular?
The /r/dankmemes subreddit grew to over 550,000 members in the twelve years after its January 2014 creation, keeping the term in wide use online[1].
## References
1. [https://www.reddit.com/r/dankmemes/]()
2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFsJbbFCcU4]()
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dank-memes]()
4. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Dank%20Memes]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/dank-memes
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