The 20 Best Memes of 2022

Let’s not mince words, gang: It’s been a long, hard year. COVID is still with us, we lived through what felt like the longest midterm election cycle in history, Elon Musk is systematically destroying Twitter, and...you know, the ever-present threat of climate change, et cetera. (Sorry for the bummer vibes.)

Luckily, there is still one thing capable of bringing comfort to the afflicted and wiping our collective hive mind of its existential pathos, and that thing is memes. When I’m in a real fall-of-late-capitalism spiral, nothing cheers me up more than a good meme, and with the wild events of 2022 has come a whole slate of attendant online jokes that almost—almost—makes me glad to, as Justin Timberlake so memorably put it in The Social Network, “live on the internet.” To that end, we’ve rounded up the very best memes of 2022; find them all below.

Usher asked us all to “Watch This”

A clip of Usher from his Tiny Desk performance somehow led to one of the most one-size-fits-all memes of the year, as enterprising social media users turned the singer crooning “watch this” into a response to pretty much anything.

Girl Explaining went viral

You know how men (in general) like to explain things to women (again, in general, don’t yell at me, Rebecca Solnit wrote a whole book about it)? Well, this handy meme flips the script on its head, featuring a young woman in a pink tank top yelling into a man’s ear about, presumably, something she’s an expert in.

Euphoria memes abounded and delighted

Whether it was Maddy Perez’s “Bitch, you better be joking” line or Cassie Howard serenely staring at herself in the mirror, the girls of Euphoria more than delivered on the Instagram-ready content this season.

Adam Levine’s sexts were a blank canvas

Listen, I think any of us would sound pretty stupid if our, ahem, romantic texts went viral, but sadly Adam Levine’s are just too funny not to be turned into infinite memes.

The White Lotus was as watercooler moment filled as ever

Is there a bigger driver of meme-based imagery than this show? It doesn’t seem like it, if the social media frenzy that is my Twitter feed after every new episode of season two drops is any indication.

Julia Fox said, “Un-cuh Gems”

Was there ever a TikTok star who shone brighter than Julia Fox? Arguably no, as she proved by pronouncing the title of her 2019 film Uncut Gems in a way that launched a thousand re-creations.

Kamala laughed (a lot)

It can be hard to have genuine fun with a political meme, but the one where people notice and appreciate the infectious laughter of Vice President Kamala Harris definitely qualifies.

“She’s a 10, but...”

Do I love assigning women a numerical rank based on their perceived hotness? No, but I do love this meme that seeks to codify red flags in the funniest way possible.

Kim Kardashian invited us to join her in the workforce

In true-to-form Kardashian fashion, an ill-considered sound bite from Kim about how “nobody wants to work anymore” went viral on TikTok and ended up amusing the world (or at least the portion of the world on social media) for days, if not weeks. Klassic!

Ben, Jen, and Dunkin’ made it official

One cannot marry Ben Affleck without engaging with his regional culture of Dunkin’ Donuts fanaticism, as J.Lo learned this year. Seeing the two of them enjoying the most Bostonian of fast-food options together...it’s beautiful!

The NASA James Webb telescope got its moment in the sun

Lesson for NASA: Don’t release infrared images of the universe unless you’re prepared for all of its inhabitants to turn the photos into a meme immediately. That’s just how we earthlings operate.

American Girl dolls came back in a big way

The American Girl Doll Café in Los Angeles may be closed (which I know because I may or may not have tried to go there), but at least the memes live on in perpetuity.

Gas prices rose, but at least we got jokes out of it

While feeling the oft-invoked pain at the pump driven by rising gas prices over the last year, many consumers took to social media. I’m still mad that gas is $4.89 a gallon in my city, but at least I can have some laughs about it?

Don’t Worry Darling gave us all a new Hollywood scandal to obsess over

Even leaving aside the Flolivia drama and the Harry Styles of it all, this thriller truly delivered in terms of Chris Pine meme content. God, I love that man.

Nicole Kidman’s AMC ads sparked joy

Arguably the greatest part of going to the movies again is getting to see Nicole Kidman transport us all to a Hollywood oasis in her banal yet brilliant pre-film ad for AMC, which has elicited some truly amazing online reactions.

Lupita Nyong’o’s reaction to the Oscars slap was all too relatable

I didn’t personally get a lot out of #TheSlap memes (too bizarre!), but watching Nyong’o try to remain calm at an extremely, um, eventful Oscars (and not totally nail it, but really, who could?) definitely hit home.

Chamberlain sunnily replying “Love ya!” to Jack Harlow on the red carpet and then looking very confused at her own response was the perfect meme launchpad.

The green M&M was...considered too sexy, for some reason?

Will we ever know why M&Ms swapped their green icon’s stilettos for sneakers? Maybe not, but at least we can complain about it on Twitter.

Everyone dated Pete Davidson

And we know why!

The CDC had sophomore slump

Fine when you’re in college, not so great when you’re a government agency responsible for health messaging during a pandemic. At least we had fun with it?