Top Online Dating Turn Offs for Guys

What are turn offs you see on a woman’s dating profile? I posted that question on dating forums and compiled a list of the top 10 turn offs for guys.

Women are just as guilty as men of posting bad profiles. Profiles full of cliches, bad photos, bad spelling, hostility, and everything else that causes men to roll their eyes.

I have my own person turn offs but I wanted to hear from men so I posted on various dating forums asking men for their turn offs. I let men speak and tallied the results. Here are the top 10 turn offs for guys when looking at women’s dating profiles.

1. Lack of effort

First on the list of turn offs for guys are women who put up a low effort dating profile.  You’ve seen these type of profiles I’m sure.  These are profiles where women write absolutely nothing about themselves:

“Dunno what to write here just ask.”
“I will be completing this section soon.”
“just ask! :)”

Here are a few I found quickly on Match.com:

If a woman is serious about seeking a relationship on a dating site, don’t you think she’d put the effort in to find a partner? What do you think a one sentence dating profiles says about how much effort she will put into a relationship with you? Think about that.

2. Endless cliches

Another form of low effort profiles are ones filled with cliches. These profiles usually include the word “Netflix” and sentences like “I love to laugh”, “I enjoy going out but staying in…” and “I love to travel”.

Blah, blah, blah. Cliches are low-effort. They tell you nothing about the woman behind the profile. Maybe she thinks that since she’s so attractive she doesn’t have to put the work into her profile.

This is frustrating. It’s a total turnoff scrolling through a cliche-filled dating profile.

Remember this, people who make a half-assed effort on their dating profile will more than likely put a half-assed effort into the relationship.

3. Snapchat and various phone app filters

Do you think it’s cute when you see this?

Men are annoyed when women use pictures taken with any trendy apps that slap on dog ears or cat paws or gives them weird animal eyes. Even worse are the ones were you clearly see they used some sort of filter that softens there skin

4. Women who say “Don’t message me if…”

Another turnoff is seeing these words on a woman’s profile: “Don’t message me if (FILL IN THE BLANK)“.

These words are usually followed by several different things:

• “Don’t message me if you have drama…”
• “Don’t message me if you aren’t 6’4…”
• “Don’t message me if you aren’t in good shape…”
• “Don’t message me if you aren’t what I’m looking for.”

The statement “don’t message me if” is extremely annoying. There’s no need for it. Most of the time, women use the sentence with the word “drama.”

If someone was truly drama free, they wouldn’t feel the need to mention it on their dating profile.   These women choose to date men who have drama and because of their bad experiences, feel the need to write it on their profile.

Sometimes I just want to email women who write this no drama nonsense a message saying:

“Hey, I was totally going to email you and unleash a shit storm of drama in your life but I saw how you said to not contact you if I have drama. You’re “no contact me drama” sentence worked and thwarted my evil plans. After careful consideration, I am letting you know that I will not be pursuing you and will instead focus my drama on another woman. Have a great day.”

Of course, I’m joking, but you get the lunacy of the comment, “Don’t message me if…”  I get that people can get frustrated with online dating from time to time. But there’s no need to take out your frustration with this type of statement on a dating profile.

Stay away from women who focus their dating profile on what they don’t want, instead of what they do want.

5. Women who don’t “settle”

Another turn off is when women feel the need to write how they “don’t settle”. I think anyone who writes “I will not settle” is single for a reason. Other variations are “I’m picky” or “I’m extremely picky”.

If you see words like “settle” or “picky”, hit the back button immediately. These women find fault with every man they date. They will go over your profile and eventually find something they don’t like.

Trust me, a woman who “doesn’t settle” goes through your profile with a fine-toothed comb looking for the smallest red-flag. She’ll focus on small things which aren’t really deal-breakers in the traditional sense, but she’ll find something to NOT choose for.

Of course, women have the right to be picky. So do you. You just don’t have to announce it on your dating profile. As one guy put it, “Stay away from women who suffer from ‘top shelf syndrome’ because you’re just wasting your time and energy.”

6. Women who look like they only want to party

Men don’t like women who only have photos of themselves out partying. You’ve seen women like this. All their profile photos are just her and her friends out at bars, clubs, wineries, doing endless mimosas, and anything involving alcohol.

No doubt it’s a turnoff seeing women who clearly spend all their free time downtown drinking their life away. It’s cool to be social and go out every now and then but if all woman’s shares are photos of her partying, you can guess the lifestyle she leads.

7. Women who write “my kid comes first”

Is this really necessary? It’s a given your child comes first. If any man expects a woman to suddenly drop her child for him, he’s an idiot. It’s not going to happen.

Guys pinpoint this as a turnoff. It’s not necessary.

8. Women who are “tired of games and drama”

I’ve already mentioned women typically write “Don’t message me if” and add “drama” but another turnoff for guys is women who tell you they are “tired” of it. What exactly is the point of this statement? Why people feel the need to share it is beyond me but it’s very common.

So much so that a lot of men mentioned it’s a total turnoff.

9. Women who are superheroes

What does this mean? Women who hide their identities by using photos that don’t clearly show you their faces.

These women hide everything behind hats, glasses, mirrors, etc… They do anything to hide their complete face forcing guys to guess what the look like.

10. Photos with children

One guy wrote this about women who have kids in their photos; “This tells me that they are dangerously reckless and have little concern for the safety of others……a picture with no faces obscured, tells me everything I need to know.”

I agree. Here’s why, according to Statistics Brain, 10% of sex offenders use a dating site to meet people. We all know there are sexual predators out there. And if you think they aren’t on dating sites, you’re dead wrong.

Also, tack on a lot of men believe women use kids as props feed their online profile.

Final Thoughts

Clearly, there are a lot of turn offs for guys when it comes to women’s dating profiles.  No doubt you have experienced some of the ones I’ve discussed above.

Take note!  These turn offs for guys can be turn offs for women as well. Men are just as guilty of using cliches, showing a complete lack of effort on their dating profile, and using statements like “don’t message me if…” among other things. Keep that in mind. These turn offs go both ways.

Please leave a comment below or share some of your own frustrations, because I’d like to hear what you think about turn offs for guys in online dating.