What Does 'Ozempic Face' Mean? The Viral Expression And Its Memes Explained

The sudden popularity of weight-loss drugs has been a hot topic on the internet over the last few years, especially the Ozempic drug, which is an approved medicine to treat Type 2 diabetes and has weight loss as a prominent side effect.

Social media has undergone a recurring debate over Ozempic's before-and-after photos of people — mostly celebrities, who have seen drastic results while using the medication. The hyper-focus on judging one's journey to losing weight with the aid of the drug has inspired an expression called the Ozempic face and we are here to explain how this started.

What Does 'Ozempic Face' Mean?

First off, "Ozempic face" is not an official medical term. It is an informal expression coined around November 2022, which describes facial changes linked to a reduction in facial fat, resulting in the perception of sagging and wrinkles.

How Do People Spot An 'Ozempic Face'?

Medical News Today uploaded an illustration by Jason Hoffman (shown below) explaining how Ozempic can affect a person's face as a side effect of its use for weight loss.

When Did The 'Ozempic Face' Become A Meme Subject?

As more celebrities admitted the use of Ozempic to lose weight, the expression grew more popular on the internet, especially after Meghan Markle dramatic weight transformation, Some jokes and theories about her started to go viral on Twitter / X, as user @sage1411 uploaded a picture of The Duchess of Sussex paired with the caption "The ozempic face is strong here." On November 13th, 2023, X^[4] user @CiciTee1 uploaded a close-up picture of Markle's face, saying it was an "ozempic face," which received more than 800 likes and 130 retweets in three months.

People also used the expression popularity to post memes of fictional characters with similar features to the "Ozempic face," like user @saintmacklin, who posted an image of Tim Burton's character from The Corpse Bride. The post (shown below) amassed more than 500 likes and 16 retweets since uploaded on March 15th, 2023.

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For the full history of the Ozempic Face expression, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.