This study examined gender and status differences among sixth through eighth grade early adolescents' (N = 387) descriptions of what it means to be popular. More boys than girls specified being "cool", "athletic", "funny", and "defiant/risky", whereas more girls than boys identified wearing nice "clothing", being "attractive", "mean", "snobby", "rude", and "sociable" as descriptors of popularity. Descriptions also varied as a function of the individual's status: adolescents who were perceived as popular described popularity primarily in positive terms, whereas adolescents perceived as average and unpopular used both positive and negative terms. Compared with their same-gender peers, more popular boys indicated being "cool", "attractive", and "athletic", whereas more popular girls specified being "athletic" and "liked". Compared with popular girls, more average girls used the terms "mean" and "conceited" in their descriptions, whereas more average and unpopular girls indicated the term "snobby". This study illustrates the complexity and variability in early adolescents' social constructions of popularity.