17 *Psychological* Signs He Likes You But Is Hiding It

Look, men don’t have a history of being encouraged to talk about their feelings.

Many don’t know how to express what they feel, or worse… they allow their insecurities to stop them.

That’s why, if you think a guy likes you, you can’t rely on your intuition only.

There are certain signs you have to look out for that usually give a man’s true feelings for you away. 

Before you do that though, it would be helpful to understand….. 

Why he might hide his feelings for you?

Insecure: He may think you’re out of his league and he’s afraid you might reject him.

Unprepared: He may not be ready for a relationship and he prefers to hide his feelings until he is. If this is true, it means he doesn’t want to hurt you.

Unsure: In case he is ready for a relationship and he secretly loves you, he could have another reason for not confessing his feelings for you. It’s possible he is unsure about your feelings for him. 

Friendship: Already being good friends with him could also be a good reason. Because he definitely wouldn’t want to ruin the friendship.

Societal construct: A recent study has shed light on the emotional struggles of modern men. In a society where vulnerability is often perceived as a weakness, nearly half of all male respondents reported difficulty opening up about their feelings. Heartbreakingly, nearly a quarter of these men feel the societal pressure to maintain a stoic demeanor and suppress their emotions, perpetuating the harmful stereotype of the “strong, silent type.” 

As you can see, he could have his reasons for hiding his feelings for you. 

But does he like you? let’s find out!

17 Signs He Likes You But Is Hiding It:

1. He keep on reminding you that he’s single

When a guy likes you and is testing the waters by dropping hints about his relationship status, you can take it as a sign. 

It’s a positive sign he likes you and is interested in something more than being friends with you. What’s more, if he also subtly tries to find out if you’re single, you can be certain of his feelings for you. 

Unless he is doing this for a friend who is romantically interested in you, he likes you and he needs to know if he can make a move on you.

Or, maybe he simply wants to see how you react if he tells you he’s available. There are many possibilities here, but one thing is for sure: he has a hidden motive for telling you he’s single.

2. He always gives you his undivided attention

It’s common knowledge that men get easily distracted. Based on that, you can determine if he likes you even if he’s doing his best not to show it. 

If you’re always at the center of his attention and he really listens to you, asks you follow-up questions, and keeps his phone away, then the answer is clear!

He is fascinated by you and he can’t help but be all eyes and ears when you’re around. 

What if you two are already friends?

Well, I can tell you from personal experience that a male friend, regardless of how devoted he is to you, won’t be able to focus on you only. 

He may stare at you as if he’s listening, but his mind will wander. However, when a guy secretly likes you he will shift all his attention to you when you’re speaking.

3. He puts on a big smile when he sees you

Let me ask you this: Does he smile when he sees you?

If he does, here are a few possible reasons:

• He knows that smiling makes him more attractive and inviting;
• He is genuinely happy to see you and wants to be close to you;
• He is expressing his interest in you with a smile;

What’s more, a simple smile can tell you if he has romantic feelings for you, or if he’s just sexually attracted to you.

In case he has a crush on you, he smiles in a very natural way and he genuinely seems excited. On the other hand, if his smile seems a bit tense and he also licks or bites his lips, it means he desires you sexually.

4. He asks you open-ended questions

He may hide the fact that he likes you, but do you know what he can’t hide? His interest in you!

If you happen to notice that he asks you many open-ended questions, you can take it as a positive sign. 

So, give this point some thought. His questions can reveal a lot about his feelings for you. For example, if he wants to find out more about your likes and dislikes, it means you’ve sparked an interest in him.

In the end, what really matters is that he likes to hear you talk. However, there is one exception: He wants to talk about the same topic all the time.

If that’s true, he might want to gain more knowledge in that field rather than learn more about you.

5. He always try to make you laugh

When we like someone, we want to make them feel good, right? Well, the same goes for him!

If a guy secretly likes you, he will try to be even funnier. Making you laugh helps him express his dominance in an indirect way. 

In turn, when he makes you laugh, all sorts of feel-good hormones start spreading through your body, a study shows. Your levels of serotonin and dopamine increase, and your brain also produces endorphins.

What does this mean?

It means that you’ll feel better and happier, and you might associate these feelings with him.

Admit it: You also like him, but you’re hiding it.

6. He keeps on making eye contact with you

Do you often notice him checking you out from head to toe? Or is he more focused on your eyes and face?

Depending on your answer, you can find out whether he’s just physically attracted to you or if he also likes you, for you. 

Thanks to a recent study, we now know another essential thing about men and their intentions. You see, if he looks at your body more than he looks at your face, it means he’s interested in a short-term relationship with you. 

Conversely, if he make an eye contact and looks deeply into your eyes and focuses on your face more than other body parts, it means he wants you in his life for the long term. 

What if he pays equal attention to your body and face? My guess is that he’s head over heels in love with you!

Next time he makes eye contact, you know what’s going on in his mind 👀.

7. He mirrors the way you move your body

Another sign to look out for is if he mirrors your body language.

For example, if you put your hands on the table and he does the same after a short while, it means he is mirroring you. 

The best part about mirroring is that it can be done unconsciously. In other words, he might not even know he’s doing it. 

This happens due to his mirror neurons, which have an impact on his behavior. Simply put, he might copy the way you move your body in his attempt to feel whatever you’re feeling.

You see, mirror neurons play a big role in empathy. But there’s more!

If he’s a really smart guy with a high level of emotional intelligence, maybe he did his research and found out that you can actually make someone feel more comfortable in your presence if you mirror their body language.

In this case, he definitely likes you, even if something is keeping him from telling you yet.

8. He goes out of his way to help you out

Not every man in your life is going to help you because he likes you more than just a friend. However, this guy might!

How can you tell? Ask yourself the following questions:

• Does he offer his help?
• Does he turn you down when you ask for his help?
• Does he help you when it’s easy or does he make an effort?

It goes without saying that if he goes out of his way to help you out, he cares about you. He might want to impress you as well by showing you he’s reliable and he can get things done.

His actions may be selfless, especially if he’s hiding his feelings for you. Who knows, maybe he doesn’t think right now is the best time to be together, but he’d really like that.

9. He acts nervous or weird around you

Nervousness is a clear sign of attraction. So, if you’ve noticed that in him while you’re around, there’s no point in looking for more signs.

Not sure what nervousness looks like in a man?

Here are a few examples:

• He plays with his hair or runs his hand through his hair;
• He constantly has something in his hands and plays with it;
• He fixes his clothes and posture on and on;
• He rubs his face with his hands and doesn’t make eye contact;
• He finds every moment of silence very awkward.

Now, take some time and think about his behavior around you. Identify as many signs of nervousness as possible and you’ll know if he likes you or not.

10. He gets closer to you physically

At first, he was sitting across from you. He walked next to you at a reasonable distance. He didn’t touch you. 

How about now? Now he might…

… sit or stand next to you;

… walk very close to you, or even bump into you;

… find ways to touch you;

What does it mean? All these are signs he likes you.  

He is playing it cool it, though and that’s why he isn’t more obvious about his desire to be physically close to you. 

At the same time, he can’t help but position himself closer and closer to you. He might have good reasons not to tell you about his feelings. However, this doesn’t mean he can fully control himself.

11. He leans in when you talk to him

If the body language signs above are not enough to convince you, here’s another one: he leans in when you’re talking. 

Psychologically speaking, when someone leans forward, it suggests one thing: they want to become more intimate.

Both men and women do this, whether they’re aware of it or not, which brings me to another question: What if he likes you, but he’s playing it cool because he doesn’t know he’s been love-struck yet?

If that’s the case, and you like him too, then you could help him figure out his feelings for you. How? 

As mentioned before, mirroring his behavior is a great way to make him feel comfortable. In addition, by doing so, you can send him the same message.

12. He asks your friends questions about you

Is he shy or trying to hide his feelings for you? If he asks your friends about you, it means he could be both!

A shy guy will not approach you directly and he will have a hard time asking you questions. The same goes for a man who is trying to keep his feelings to himself.

In both cases, the next best way to find out things about you is to ask your friends. His approach could be either casual, or he might tell your friends that he likes you and ask them to keep it a secret.

Either way, if one of your friends mentions he’s been asking questions about you, then the conclusion is clear: He likes you!

13. He becomes jealous when you talk to other men

Listen, you don’t need me or any relationship expert to tell you that when a man becomes jealous of other men, it means he likes you. 

If he reacted inappropriately many times before whenever another guy was approaching you or trying to get all your attention, it means he was jealous. 

Even if he does nothing, you can still read a man’s jealousy on his face – if you know him even for a bit. 

When a man is jealous, his facial expression will simply change. Even if he wants to hide it, he’ll do something that gives him away, such as show signs of nervousness. 

How can you tell for sure, though? Analyze his behavior around other people. If he reacts the same, that’s just the way he is. 

14. He likes to tease you quite often

Did you know that teasing is a form of flirting? Well, if you didn’t, now you know that he’s flirting with you. 

When a guy makes fun of you, it doesn’t mean anything negative. It actually means that he feels comfortable enough around you to express himself in this way. 

What’s more, he knows what to tease you about because he’s been paying enough attention to you to discover your insecurities.

Even so, make sure he’s teasing you, not being mean to you. If he’s being mean, you should disregard this sign.

But if he’s just being playful and doesn’t cross any of your boundaries, take it as an attempt to flirt with you.

15. He sends many texts and replies to yours fast

Constant communication and well as availability are signs he likes you. 

Unless he’s bored out of his mind, doesn’t have a job, doesn’t go to school, and so on, he texts you because he enjoys talking to you. 

What’s more, he replies to your texts fast because he makes you a priority, and because he’s constantly thinking about you. He doesn’t forget to check his phone, so that must be true!

To be honest, if he does all these, he’s not really trying to hide the fact that he likes you. Maybe he doesn’t hide it, but you’re not picking up on his signals?

Hopefully, by the end of this article, you will see the signs, and you’ll be able to either reciprocate his feelings or give him space to move on from you.

16. He takes good care of his appearance

Lately, guys pay more attention to their appearance than before and that’s a great thing! 

However, it makes it more difficult for us to know if they’re making an effort to impress us, or if that’s just how good they normally look.

Even so, there’s no reason for concern. There is a way to know if he does his best to look good and takes care of himself to impress you.

How?

Things that could give him away are:

• He suddenly started wearing perfume;
• You notice he’s wearing new clothes;
• He has changed his hairstyle;
• He doesn’t have the same grooming habits;

So, compare the new him with the old him and you’ll know. 

17. He puts his best foot forward

Now, let’s say you met him for a short while and you didn’t get a chance to study his grooming habits or behavior in general. 

What could give him away?

Here are a few examples:

• He’s constantly rearranging his clothes, making sure they look perfect;
• He puts on his best clothes and doesn’t have a messy style;
• He glances at himself in a mirror/window every chance he gets;
• He keeps fixing his hair – everything must be in place for you.

If you think about it, that’s exactly what you do as well! Am I right? When you like someone, you want to look flawless because you want to impress them.

Takeaway:

By now you should know if he likes you but is hiding it. In case this guy likes you and you like him back, that’s good news! 

A word of caution, though: Find out why he’s playing it cool sooner rather than later. His reasons might not be innocent. 

However, if you don’t reciprocate his feelings, do your best to remove yourself from his life. Maybe he already feels you’re not that into him and that’s why he’s hiding his feelings from you.