coded

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkəʊdɪd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: coated (flapping)
• Rhymes: -əʊdɪd

Adjective

coded (comparative more coded, superlative most coded)

1. Encoded; written in code or cipher.
2. (by extension) Portrayed in a way that suggests or resembles having a specific trait or inspiration, without being officially explicitly stated as having that trait.

   The character comes across as being female-coded.

   This character is coded as autistic.

   • 2015, Lori Kenschaft, Roger Clark, Desiree Ciambrone, Gender Inequality in Our Changing World: A Comparative Approach, Routledge, →ISBN, page 52:

     This is partly because male-coded jobs typically offer more pay, prestige, and independence than female-coded jobs, so the financial incentives for women are greater. Many men, however, avoid female-coded fields even when they know the pay and opportunities for advancement would be superior to their other options  […]

   • 2020 May 21, Noah Adams, Bridget Liang, Trans and Autistic: Stories from Life at the Intersection, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, →ISBN, page 72:

     He is aware of a number of programs with more "capable" characters like Sheldon, from The Big Bang Theory, who are autistic coded without being explicitly named as such. James notes that, despite being more visible, the autistic traits of these characters tend to be used for comic relief, while autistic people in everyday situations are never seen.

3. (colloquial) Like; resembling or having the characteristics of.

   That is so me-coded fr. ― That is so like me, for real.

   Bro has been acting kind of NPC-coded lately.

   • 2024 July 6, Physics Girl, 5:54:57, in Physics Girl LIVE with long Covid‎:

     [Dianna Cowern, eating a vegetable 'pudding':] "It's very baby food coded." / [Kyle Kitzmiller:] "Yes." / [Dianna:] "Because it is deeply pureed."

   • 2025 August 10, Matt Flegenheimer, “Dr. Phil’s Road From Oprah to ICE Raids”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     In the last two years, Dr. Phil (surname: McGraw) had ended his flagship talk show and created his own news and entertainment network, trafficking daily in conservative-coded subjects — “Dr. Phil: The Hidden Gem in Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’” “Dr. Phil Investigates: Are Schools Secretly Transitioning Your Child?” — in an unswerving crusade against “the woke left.”

     (Can we archive this URL?)

Derived terms

• autocoded
• binary-coded decimal
• binary-coded, hard-coded
• codedness
• miscoded
• noncoded
• precoded
• pseudocoded
• queercoded
• (UK) colour-coded/(US) color-coded
• uncoded

Verb

coded

1. simple past and past participle of code