Friendship is great.
It’s wonderful to have a few reliable friends who offer mutual support.
However, as we navigate life, we inevitably encounter people who make friendships unnecessarily complicated and exhausting.
If we don’t learn to manage these relationships, they can make us miserable.
If you suspect you have friends draining your energy, this post will show you 11 types of friends you should cut off without feeling guilty.
11 Types Of Friends You Should Avoid Without Guilt
I used to repeatedly give people second and third chances, often at the urging of other friends who called me “too harsh.”
They’d tell me to “forgive them and move on.”
Now, I realize there’s a difference between forgiving someone and keeping them close.
We must ultimately do what is best for ourselves.
Since I stopped giving people multiple chances to hurt me, I’ve found there is significantly less drama in my life.
Below are 11 types of friends to avoid without guilt.
1. The friend that belittles you for fun.
Joking is normal, but it’s unacceptable when a friend repeatedly belittles you in front of others to make themselves look good.
A real friend should have your back, not make you the laughingstock.
7 Ways To Deal With Someone Who Dislikes You (Why You Shouldn’t Care)
2. Friends who ghost you without explanation
Another friend to avoid without feeling guilty is the one who ghosts you without explanation.
Imagine being close to someone.
You call and check on each other regularly.
Then suddenly, they stop taking your calls, ignoring your messages.
And when you finally meet, they won’t explain why they ghosted you for months.
Then they go back to ghosting you?
Please let them be.
Just be happy they’re out of your life.
We can talk about stuff with our friends.
But if your friend can’t tell you why they’re avoiding you, you might as well cut them off.
You can’t spend days wondering what you did to make them ghost you.
It’s not worth it.
3. The friend that underrates your success
A true friend should celebrate your victories, no matter how small.
If you share a win—a small achievement or a significant milestone—and their indifference or minimization makes your joy sour, something is fundamentally wrong with that relationship.
These are the people who act like you’re making a “big deal” out of a “small thing.”
The reality is, if something is significant to you and brings you happiness, a genuine friend will be happy for you.
If they aren’t, they aren’t your friend.
A personal example
I experienced this firsthand recently.
I had switched my morning routine from running to walking, complementing a new regimen of weight training.
I had a visitor who spent most of the time focused on her phone.
The only time she broke her silence was to offer a condescending critique:
“You’re looking fat. Are you sure you still run? Maybe you should run longer.”
I simply responded, “I’ve lost weight from the last time I saw you.”
She left a few minutes later, and that was the last time we ever spoke or saw each other.
I’ve realized I don’t need anyone raining on my parade, belittling my fitness routine, or minimizing any part of my life.
Cutting that person off was the right decision.
5. Another type of friend you should avoid without guilt is the low-key competitive one
It is a wise and necessary decision to let go of a friend who is constantly competing with you.
The dynamic is easy to recognize once you know what to look for.
The core issue isn’t simple admiration, but obsessive fixation:
- Admiration is harmless: It’s natural and perfectly fine if a friend likes your dress, bag, or other items and wants to buy something similar.
- Fixation is harmful: The relationship becomes toxic when a friend seems to act as if their life is incomplete or inadequate until they acquire the very things you possess. This compulsion can be so intense that they will go into debt just to keep up with your purchasing habits.
This competition may not directly impact your success or well-being.
But it reveals that your connection is built on a foundation of materialism and unhealthy rivalry.
When you realize you have nothing in common except the items you buy, it’s a clear sign that the friendship is shallow and ready to be cut off.
6. Attention-seeking friend is one you should avoid
We all know the type: the friend who consistently manages to make every situation, even your own struggles or triumphs, entirely about themselves.
This is a powerful sign of a self-centered dynamic that should not be tolerated.
When you are going through a personal or professional crisis, instead of offering support, they shift the focus to their own needs.
They might even express anger by claiming you’re not giving them enough attention.
This toxicity extends to your emotional well-being:
- They resent your grief: They may get angry at you for crying after the loss of a loved one because they can’t stand how you grieve. To them, your grief draws attention, making them feel unimportant.
- They minimize your success: Similarly, if you receive good news—a promotion or an engagement—they become resentful. They see the celebration and attention you are receiving as something that is being taken away from them.
A true friend’s support is unconditional.
If a friend’s first instinct is to redirect the spotlight back to themselves when you are in pain or celebrating, they are not a friend.
Do not hesitate to cut them off.
7. The friend who ignores you even when you’re with them
If your friend is constantly on their phone while you are together, it is a clear sign that they don’t respect you or the time you set aside to spend with them.
You should never have to beg a friend for their attention or acknowledgement when you are sitting right in front of them.
The message they are sending is simple: whatever is on their phone is more important than you and your shared conversation.
If their priority is scrolling, they should not be asking to hang out in the first place.
This behavior is dismissive and unacceptable.
After experiencing this disrespect twice, you are right to draw a firm boundary.
Do not tolerate anyone treating you like a background distraction.
8. The friend who thinks you should see their friendship as a privilege
Sometimes you meet someone and the connection flows naturally.
However, every lasting friendship takes both time and mutual effort to start and keep going.
If you find yourself as the only one consistently reaching out, planning meetups, or investing emotional energy, it’s time to call it quits.
You shouldn’t have to force someone to be your friend.
I’ve had the experience of someone acting as if I should be grateful she talked to me—a clear signal of disrespect.
I cut her off immediately because I simply don’t have time for that kind of arrogance.
Friendships should be mutually beneficial in some capacity—whether through shared support, shared interests, or shared laughter.
It should never, under any circumstances, be a one-way street.
9. The backstabber is a type of friend you should avoid
The most crucial type of friend to avoid is the one who will stab you in the back without blinking.
This behavior is rarely a one-time mistake; people who betray your trust will almost certainly do it again.
The moment this happens, you have to ask yourself: How many times do you want to deal with the inevitable heartache and disappointment?
Save yourself the stress and cut them off immediately.
I learned this the hard way.
I gave someone several chances, and the level of betrayal eventually became so toxic that it forced me to leave my 9-to-5 job.
Because I could no longer function in that environment.
Despite the destruction she caused, this person still attempts to connect on social media—proving that their lack of boundaries and self-awareness persists.
Do not give them the chance to cause that kind of lasting damage. One strike is all they get.
10. The judgemental and virtue-signaling friend
We all value honesty, but some people disguise judgment and virtue-signaling as helpful critique.
This type of friend turns your personal joy or experience into a performance review:
- The scenario: You share an exciting, harmless event, like having a first kiss on a date with someone you genuinely like.
- The normal response: A supportive friend would simply smile, acknowledge your happiness, and treat it as a normal part of adult life.
- The judgmental response: The toxic friend immediately brings up arbitrary, outdated “rules” (e.g., “That’s too soon; you’re supposed to wait until the third date”). They frame their opinions with condescending phrases like, “If I were the one, I’d do XYZ.”
Their goal isn’t to help you; it’s to make you feel useless or foolish for making a choice that brings you joy.
This behavior is simply rubbish virtue-signaling—an attempt to elevate themselves by tearing down your experience.
A true friend offers support; they do not enforce a set of rules on how you should live your life.
It’s essential to cut off anyone who constantly tries to make you feel bad about your own perfectly valid choices.
11. The friend who makes you their puppet because they did XYZ for you
This manipulator gives you things not out of kindness, but with the specific expectation that you will do their bidding in the future.
When you refuse to comply, they will shame you with those gifts, throwing their generosity back in your face and making you feel indebted or poor.
This friend expects you to ditch your morals and compromise your principles because you innocently accepted something from them.
They believe their conditional gifts purchase your obedience.
Please, for your own sake, even if you choose to keep them in your life, do not accept anything from them.
I learned this lesson the hard way.
Refuse the gift and keep your freedom.
Final Word: Protect Your Peace
If your friend is secretly jealous, constantly brings drama, or belittles you for fun, please cut them off.
You don’t need judgmental people hiding behind the veil of “honesty”.
Nor do you need those who try to dim your light simply because they lack the ability or courage to achieve what you have.
Finally, remember this crucial defense:
You can avoid social media humiliation and manipulation by simply refusing to accept gifts from a friend who weaponizes them.
This guide has outlined nine types of toxic friendships to avoid for a happier, drama-free life.
What other types of toxic friends do you think we should avoid?
Share your experiences in the comments!
Recommended posts
10 Tips For Self-care For When You Are Overwhelmed
9 Healthy Lifestyle Habits To Live A Happy Life
