How To Tell If Someone Likes You But Is Hiding It?

If you want to know how to tell if someone likes you but is hiding it, you have to look at a person’s actions and inactions.

Look at the way he or she behaves around you—as well as away from you.

Soon, in one way or another, this person will reveal to you what he or she feels toward you because attraction can’t be faked very well.

Not for very long anyway because people are progressive beings.

What I mean by that is that the more we like something, the more we want it for ourselves. And when we want it very, very badly, we become bad at hiding our hidden desire and eventually drop our guard and reveal our intentions.

It’s one of those emotions that speaks for itself as it tends to control us instead of us controlling the emotion. Especially if we like someone so much that we want him or her to like us back.

Thoughts create attraction and attraction inspires actions.

So if you’re curious about how you can tell if someone likes you but is hiding it, look out for verbal and nonverbal signs of attraction.

Look at the gestures, the physical and non-physical actions, and overall attitude toward you.

If the attitude seems to be very good and expressive, this person is probably attracted to you to a good extent and will sooner than later slip up at hiding his or her emotions.

And if his or her feelings and actions seem vague, restrained, or unknown, then you’re probably jumping the gun. This person doesn’t like you much yet, so you technically want too much too soon.

Be patient and selfless and continue to get to know the person. Build the attraction and make sure that he or she trusts you and feels relaxed around you first.

It doesn’t matter if the person in question is your friend, a co-worker, an ex, or someone you just met.

You can tell if he or she likes you if he or she continues to invest time and effort in you. This is the most obvious sign of attraction.

I’d say it’s is even more obvious than flirting because someone who genuinely likes you will want to be around you for genuine reasons.

Not just for sex, attention, and loneliness.

This is the article for those who wonder how to tell if someone likes you but is hiding it.

How to tell if someone likes you but is hiding it?

First of all, if a person likes you but is hiding it for some inexplicable reason, you should never push that person to open up to you and force him or her to tell you what he or she feels.

This person is currently on the defense, protecting himself or herself from the unknown for a good reason.

Maybe his or her heart got broken recently and doesn’t want to get involved with just anyone.

Or perhaps, he or she is shy or not quite sure about dating you yet.

Whatever the case may be, if you come charging in like a bull, expecting immediate results—your actions could have the opposite of the desired effect.

They could scare the person away and make him or her run for the mountains.

Please keep in mind that not everyone prefers a straightforward, “I like you, do you like me kind of approach.”

Many of us prefer to get to know people to the point where we feel comfortable around them first.

We like to take our sweet time and make sure that the person we converse with is not a threat to us in any way, shape, or form.

We do this subliminally as a precaution—just to make sure that we develop feelings for the person and that he or she is into us for the right reasons.

Reasons that we want to spend time and energy on.

So keep in mind that when you try to extort an answer from the person you like in an impatient manner, you raise a red flag.

You remind us of those who lack the patience to get to know us.

And if you don’t want to get to know us, you’re most likely not interested in us, but in the benefits that the relationship provides for you.

Let’s now talk about how you can tell if someone likes you but is hiding it.

1)Attention and initiative

The best indicator of a crush, love, attraction, or heartbreak is attention. What a person does and how he or she acts around you explains everything you need to know.

But you have to observe with your eyes and not your heart.

Although this might be difficult to do, pretend that the person you’re curious about is your acquaintance.

Let go of everything you know and most importantly, feel about him or her and ask yourself whether he or she is trying to get to know you.

Is he or she regularly inviting you out, calling and texting you, asking your friends about you?

If the answer is yes, we now know that you’re on friendly terms and that you get along fairly well.

Checkmark one complete. ✅

What about his or her attentiveness in a group of friends or people. Is he or she looking at you most of the time? Are you the one he or she asks questions about and talks to even though there are other people around?

Once again, if the answer is yes, this person likes you and your company the most from all the people around him/her.

You’re most likely someone this person wants to make a good impression on.

Checkmark 2 complete. ✅

But what if this person isn’t giving you more attention than others?

In that case, he or she either doesn’t possess romantic feelings for you or is nonchalantly trying to focus on others.

2)Body language

You’ve probably heard before that the body doesn’t lie.

This is true because it tells the truth about one’s emotional state and reveals the person’s wants and needs.

So as long as a person is nervous, doesn’t want to get caught lying or cheating, or wants something very badly—he or she is sooner than later going to get overwhelmed and make a non-verbal mistake.

He or she is basically going to act out of character and appear strange or different.

We’re talking about sudden body movements kind of different. The kind that a person makes when he or she feels stressed, shy, or embarrassed.

Shifting in chair, muscle twitching, scratching the nose or the back of the neck, touching hair, biting the inside of the mouth, cracking knuckles, and avoiding eye contact are typical signs of nervousness.

With them, we intend to cover up what we feel inside—whether it’s discomfort or romantic feelings for someone else.

So if you want to know how to tell if someone likes you or not, pay close attention to what this person’s body is telling you.

Is it facing and leaning toward you when you talk to him or her? What about the gestures? Are they open, relaxed, and welcoming?

If that’s the case, this person is okay with being vulnerable around you and trusts you enough to let you into his or her comfort zone.

It’s a sign of trust, respect, and oftentimes even care. ✅

Just make sure that you don’t confuse romantic interest with shyness because shyness doesn’t necessarily indicate romantic attraction.

It’s usually just a representation of one’s upbringing, adult life, and overall social awareness.

Here are 5 nonverbal giveaways you should look out for when you’re trying to discern whether someone likes you.

3)Type of communication and attitude

One of the best ways to tell if someone likes you and is hiding it is to observe his or her attitude toward you and those who matter to you.

If he or she wants to leave a good, long-lasting impression by sounding enthusiastic, inquisitive, and jolly, it’s a dead giveaway that this person likes your company and cares about your impression of him or her.

By appearing his or her best self, this person expects you to think highly of him or her to get approved by you.

So try to figure out if he or she is putting in a lot of effort.

If he or she is cheerful, smiles frequently, and talks more than usual, you have a sign that this person is into you. ✅

Moreover, also keep an open eye for flirting. Guys especially, often tease a girl who they have a crush on. They come up with nicknames and slightly rude remarks that girls don’t like very much.

They do this to bring a reaction out of the girl.

4)Caring excessively

The fourth sign that someone likes you is when he or she displays acts of service, care, and generosity.

When he or she goes over the top to make sure you’re happy is when you can be certain that this person likes you a lot.

He or she just wouldn’t be doing so much for you if he or she got nothing in return.

So look out for a maternal or paternal helping hand that shows immense interest in your health and safety. It’s a parental sign which means that a person is trying to remain close to you.

Some of the things a person who excessively cares about you might do are:

• Call you after you hang out and confirm that you got home safely.
• Add you on social media to keep track of your whereabouts and events.
• Ask others if they know what your schedule is.
• Selflessly help you with anything you need. If you’re sick, he or she could show up unannounced.
• Contact you to wish you well on your test, job interview, etc

Basically, anything that a person does without you asking him or her to do is a clue that he or she thinks about your life and events a lot.

And if he or she remembers the things that no one else does, chances are that this person has a crush on you. ✅

5)Overly curious

The next sign that someone is in love with you but doesn’t want to tell you is his or her burning curiosity.

If he or she is like a vacuum machine for information and appears slightly nosy— especially about your private life, this person is trying to discern your likes and dislikes.

He or she is trying to figure out your taste and understand you better so that he or she can communicate in your language and talk about the things you enjoy talking about.

Asking you a lot of questions essentially intends to encourage you to talk about yourself and open up about your life.

It’s a basic human technique that most of us use on a daily basis.

Just keep in mind that a person who likes you does this subliminally without awareness – to appear intelligent, humorous, and more entertaining.

In simpler terms, he or she is trying to get to the next stage of the relationship.

6)Constant updates

If someone likes you but is hiding it, he or she will probably give you subtle clues that he or she is thinking about you.

For example, he or she might keep you updated via texts or calls about his or her life—and in return, demand your attention.

By demanding your attention, we’re not talking about pestering you and annoying you.

We’re talking about secretly requesting validation and trying to receive some kind of positive feedback from you.

People who have a crush on others do this to hide their feelings. They don’t want to come on too strong and appear demanding, so they choose to inform instead.

They “selflessly” update people about their life. Makes sense right?

If it does, it’s because it’s that simple. But it can oftentimes be quite difficult to differentiate selflessness from selfishness.

Especially if you have feelings for a person and you’re afraid of making the wrong judgment.

7)Compliments and affection

We’ve already mentioned that attitude plays a huge role in whether a person likes you or not.

But what about one’s display of affection? Do compliments mean anything at all?

I can tell you that they certainly do. If they’re done excessively, they’re a sign that a person is interested in you because he or she wants them to make you feel good.

And if he or she wants you to feel good about yourself, this person is basically using reverse psychology on you and wants you to do the same to him or her.

This person wants you to like him or her back and give him or her the validation that he or she craves.

So pay close attention to how a person communicates to you. Does he or she compliment your looks, clothing style, taste in music and so on?

If the answer is yes, the person in question is investing in you and wants you to feel secure and comfortable around him or her. ✅

8)Showing off

Another way to tell if someone secretly likes you is to look at his or her behavior.

If he or she tries to show off and stand out among others, this person can have one of two things:

1. High ego.
2. Feelings for you.

To find out which it is, look for the way this person talks to you.

Do you get the feeling that he or she is eyeing you for a positive reaction and is trying to impress you? Are you the only person he or she does this to?

If yes, the guy or girl is clearly interested in dating you and wants to get to know you romantically.

9)Wanting to spend time alone with you

It’s a no brainer that a person who likes you wants to spend most of his or her time with you.

Not only that.

He or she wants to spend time with just the two of you because in this way, feelings, as well as new romantic opportunities, can quickly develop.

So if you suspect that someone likes you and you like him or her back, set up a date. Invite him or her out by himself or herself and see what happens next.

You’ll quickly understand how emotionally invested this person is in you and decide whether you want to pursue a relationship with him or her.

Can you tell if someone likes you but is hiding it? I’d like to hear your thoughts so please consider leaving a comment.

Zan

My name is Zan and I’m the founder of Magnet of Success. I enjoy writing realistic relationship and breakup articles and helping readers heal and grow. With more than 5 years of experience in the self-improvement, relationship, and breakup sphere, my goal is to provide advice that fosters positivity and success and avoids preventable mistakes and pain. Buy me a coffee, learn more about me, or get in touch today.