Meeting someone new can be so exciting. The possibility of what could happen, and what this person could become to you is exhilarating. However, not every relationship is meant to last, or even to start. There are certain things that you can spot early on in a relationship that can tell you a lot about a person, and not in a good way. To save yourself the heartbreak down the road, keep your eyes out for these surefire red flags in a relationship.

They're too clingy too fast.

While this red flag can sometimes be hard to gauge, it's imperative that you identify it early on, because it can lead to worse problems down the road if you decided to pursue this relationship. There's a very clear difference between a "honeymoon phase" in a relationship, and someone whose only interest is hanging out with you. If this person has nothing else going on in their life besides you, it can eventually become suffocating in a relationship. Identify this early in the relationship if it really is just a honeymoon phase, or someone who is just overly obsessed with you.

They care A LOT about what you wear.

This is a red flag that I personally have dealt with in the past, and I can tell you firsthand, it is NOT fun having a boyfriend (or whatever significant other you may prefer) yelling at you for what you wear, when they should be hyping you up. If a significant other is getting upset over what you wear, that is a clear indicator that they are deeply insecure, don't trust you, or get easily jealous (bonus if all three)! FIrstly, they may be insecure that you don't actually love them, and that you're dressing to get the attention of others. And if you do get other people's attention, they don't trust that you won't decline. And finally, the entirety of it would make them crazy jealous. This is bad for so many reasons. Your significant other should never dictate how you dress to express yourself. If they do, drop them.

They yell at you, or get overly angry at you.

Let me say this firstly. Nobody deserves to be yelled at. If you are in an adult relationship, you should be able to control your emotions. And if you can't, you need to be responsible enough to take a minute to calm down before responding. If you're significant other is yelling at you or getting overly angry (especially about small things), this is a giant red flag. Do not stay with someone that treats you this way, especially early on. Verbal abuse is bad enough on it's own, but it could later lead to even worse, including physical abuse or even sexual abuse.

They're controlling in general.

One of the biggest red flags in a new or potential relationship is if they try to control you. Whether that be what you wear, who you hang out with, where you go, etc., if they try to control these parts (or more) of your life, you need to drop them. Trying to control your life comes out of a lack of trust they have with you. And a relationship is nothing without trust. If your partner is unable to trust you, and is then trying to control different aspects of your life to try and compensate for that, you need to seriously think about if this is someone you actually want in your life. Do you really want to have to tell your friends, "Oh sorry I can't go, Jake doesn't let me go to the bars." No. You don't. Drop them.

Your close friends and family don't like them.

Now this one can be a little tricky, but more often than not, it's a red flag. If your absolute closest friends and family do not like the person you're seeing, there's most likely a reason. And it's probably one you should listen to. Your friends and family aren't in the honeymoon phase with this person, so they're able to see their flaws better than you can. Often, when we're in the honeymoon phase of a relationship, we overlook flaws or red flags that can and will cause big problems down the road. However, this isn't always true, sometimes your friends or family might just not like this person for no discernible reason. But if this possible red flag is coupled with others, I would say it's safe to say you should probably move on to the next person.

They're not respecting your boundaries.

It's important in every relationship to have boundaries, and it's even more important for your partner to respect these boundaries. Examples of these boundaries you may set could be not having sex, or needing some alone time. There's a wide variety of boundaries you may set, but the bottom line is your partner needs to respect them. If you say you need alone time, or space, and they are constantly trying to come over or texting you, they are not respecting this boundary. And what this translates to, is that they don't respect you. They don't respect you enough to abide by your boundaries in the relationship. If you continue in this relationship where what you want/need isn't respected, it's just going to get worse and worse. DO yourself a favor and leave them.

You justify their bad behavior.

And finally, one of the worst, most toxic red flags of them all. When you like the person so much, that you justify their bad behavior to your friends and family. This is such a burning hot, red flag. This person is not only toxic and manipulative, but is gaslighting you into thinking that them being a shitty person is somehow justifiable. And it's even worse when they twist their shitty behavior into being your fault. For instance, here's a fun example that happened to yours truly: So your boyfriend goes out and cheats on you, and you justify it to your friends by explaining to them that it's only because you made them mad that day, and they didn't have anyone else to go to. Now looking back on that, I can see how crazy that sounds. But when you're in the middle of it with a toxic person with red flags coming out their ears, it's hard to see it. The second you start justifying your significant other's bad behavior, you have to save yourself and get the hell out of that relationship.