Browse slang A–Z
This is the whole dictionary in alphabetical order: 111 terms, each with its one-line meaning. Pick a letter to jump to it, or scroll. Every term opens its full entry, with the origin, examples and the sources behind it. New entries are added as they are researched, so a letter that looks short today fills in over time.
- AFK
AFK means "away from keyboard": you've stepped away from your game, chat or device and won't reply for a while. Gamers also call idle players AFK.
- alr bet
Alr bet is texting slang for "alright, deal." Alr is short for alright, and bet means agreed, so the pair locks in a plan.
- ate
Ate is slang for did something perfectly, as in "she ate that." The stronger form, "ate and left no crumbs," means there was nothing left to criticize.
- atp
Atp is short for "at this point." It marks a worn-out conclusion, as in "atp I am just done." It can also mean "answer the phone."
- aura
Aura is slang for effortless coolness, the presence someone gives off without trying. Cool moments earn aura points and embarrassing ones lose them.
- aura farming
Aura farming is slang for doing things on purpose to look effortlessly cool, as if collecting invisible aura points. Get caught trying and you lose them.
- baddie
A baddie is a confident, stylish, attractive person, usually a woman: "she's a certified baddie." In older informal English, a baddie is a villain.
- bare
Bare is British slang for "a lot of." It goes in front of a noun, as in "bare people." Before an adjective it means "very."
- based
Based is slang praise for a bold, honest take or a person who is fully themselves, the opposite of cringe. Its meaning has shifted a lot over the years.
- beige flag
A beige flag is a harmless, slightly odd habit in a partner. It is not a warning like a red flag or a plus like a green flag. It just makes you go "huh."
- bet
Bet is slang for "okay, sounds good" or "deal." As a one-word reply it seals a plan. Said flat, it can also mean "sure, whatever you say."
- blud
Blud is British slang for a mate or bro: "you good, blud?" Online it's also a jokey stand-in for "he," as in "blud thinks he's on the team."
- brainrot
Brainrot is slang for mindless internet content or the mushy feeling of bingeing it. It can also mean a happy obsession with a character or show.
- breadcrumbing
Breadcrumbing means giving someone just enough attention to keep them keen. There is never a real plan behind it.
- bruv
Bruv is British slang for brother, used to address a friend or a stranger. It comes from the Cockney way of saying brother.
- bussin
Bussin is slang for extremely good, said mostly about food. If the wings are bussin, they are so good they deserve an announcement.
- chalant
Chalant is slang for openly caring and showing effort, the opposite of acting nonchalant: "a chalant man texts back." It began as a joke word.
- chopped
Chopped is slang for ugly or unattractive, said about a face, a haircut, or an outfit. It has spread to anything that turned out badly.
- chud
Chud is slang for a loser, jerk or generally unpleasant person, usually aimed at a boy or man. Kids now use it widely, often as a joke.
- chuffed
Chuffed is British slang for very pleased. If you are chuffed, or chuffed to bits, something has gone well and you are quietly delighted about it.
- clock it
Clock it is slang for "you caught that." People say it when someone notices or calls out something another person tried to hide.
- clutch
Clutch is slang for coming through under pressure. A clutch play saves the game at the last possible moment.
- cooked
Cooked is slang for doomed, finished, or in deep trouble. "We're cooked" admits defeat with style. Confusingly, "he cooked" is high praise.
- cracked
Cracked is gaming slang for extremely skilled: "he's cracked at Fortnite." In battle royale games, a cracked enemy has had their shield broken.
- crash out
Crashing out means hitting your limit and losing it: snapping, raging, or doing something reckless you will regret. A "crashout" is someone known for it.
- crine
Crine is slang for "crying," usually from laughing too hard: "I'm crine." It spells out an African American English pronunciation of the word.
- cuffing season
Cuffing season is slang for the autumn and winter stretch when singles pair up for the cold months. To be cuffed is to be locked into a relationship.
- dawg
Dawg is slang for a close friend, used to address someone, as in "what's up dawg." It comes from Black American speech.
- delulu
Delulu is playful slang for delusional. It means confidently believing something that is not real. That can be a crush theory or a dream job you manifest.
- drip
Drip is slang for stylish clothes and the way you wear them. Having drip means your outfit looks sharp and expensive.
- face card
Face card is slang for someone's good looks, pictured as a card that always gets accepted. "Face card never declines" means they always look good.
- fanum tax
Fanum tax is the bite of food a friend takes from your plate. The name comes from streamer Fanum, who "taxes" his friends' meals on stream.
- finna
Finna is slang for "about to," short for "fixing to." It comes from Black American speech, as in "I'm finna head out."
- fr
Fr is texting slang for "for real." It agrees with someone, shows you mean what you said, or, as "fr?", asks "seriously?"
- gatekeep
To gatekeep is to keep a good find to yourself and not say where it came from. It also means policing who counts as a real fan.
- gg
Gg is gaming slang for "good game," the standard polite sign-off after a match. It now also covers anything that is over, finished, or doomed.
- ghosting
Ghosting is cutting off all contact with someone, with no warning and no explanation. Their messages go unanswered, and they never learn why.
- glaze
Glazing is slang for praising someone so hard it gets embarrassing. "Stop glazing" accuses a fan of hyping their favorite way past honesty.
- glizzy
A glizzy is a hot dog in current slang. The word started as rap slang for a Glock pistol before the food meaning took over.
- gng
Gng is texting slang for "gang," used to address a friend or your whole crew: "you good gng?" Less often, it's a shortcut for "going."
- goated
Goated is slang for elite, the very best, from GOAT, "greatest of all time." It praises players, food, songs, anything top tier.
- gon
Gon is a slang spelling of "going to," as in "we gon be alright." It is speech first, and it comes from Black American English.
- green flag
A green flag is a sign that someone is a good, healthy person to date or trust. It is the direct opposite of a red flag.
- gutted
Gutted is British slang for bitterly disappointed. If you are gutted, something you cared about has fallen through and it hurts.
- gyat
Gyat is slang for a surprised "god damn," an exclamation of admiration, most often blurted when someone attractive walks by. It is not an acronym.
- ick
The ick is a sudden wave of disgust toward someone you were attracted to, set off by one small, harmless thing. Once it hits, it rarely goes away.
- icl
Icl is texting slang for "I can't lie," flagging an honest opinion or a mild confession. It works like ngl or tbh: "icl that fit is hard."
- innit
Innit is British slang for "isn't it." It ends a sentence to ask you to agree, as in "cold today, innit?" Said on its own, it means "exactly."
- istg
Istg is texting slang for "I swear to God." It stresses that you mean something, and just as often it is pure exasperation.
- it's giving
It's giving is slang for "this has the vibe of," as in "it's giving main character." Said alone, "it's giving" means the look or moment is working.
- iykyk
Iykyk stands for "if you know, you know." It tags an inside joke, a shared experience or a niche reference that won't be explained to outsiders.
- larping
Larping is slang for pretending to be something you're not, like faking a lifestyle or a skill. The word comes from LARP, a role-play hobby.
- lock in
Lock in is slang for getting serious and fully focused on a task or goal, with every distraction cut out. Someone already in that mode is "locked in."
- love bombing
Love bombing is drowning someone in affection early in a relationship to gain control over them. The intensity is the warning sign.
- lowkey
Lowkey is slang for somewhat or secretly. Saying "I'm lowkey obsessed" admits a feeling without making it loud.
- mandem
Mandem is British slang for a group of men or boys, usually your own friends. "The mandem" means the lads. It comes from Jamaican Patois.
- mewing
Mewing means pressing your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth in the belief it sharpens your jawline. No research supports that claim.
- mid
Mid is slang for mediocre or overrated, nothing special. Calling something mid is a shrug: not good enough to praise, not bad enough to hate.
- nerf
Nerf is gaming slang for weakening a character, weapon or ability, usually in a patch: "they nerfed the sniper." Outside games, it means making anything worse.
- nfs
Nfs means "no funny stuff" in a text, "not for sale" under a photo or listing, and "new friends" in a bio. Context tells you which.
- no cap
No cap means "no lie" or "for real." You say it to stress you are totally serious. "Cap" is Black American slang for a lie or an exaggeration.
- NPC
Calling someone an NPC means they seem to run on a script, with no thoughts of their own. The name borrows gaming's term for a non-player character.
- Ohio
In slang, Ohio means weird, cursed, or cringe, as if a thing is so strange it could only happen in Ohio. It grew from years of "only in Ohio" memes.
- ong
Ong is texting slang for "on God." It swears you are telling the truth, and on its own it is a one-word way of saying you agree.
- opp
An opp is an enemy or rival. It is short for "opposition." People usually say it in the plural, "the opps," for anyone against them, real or as a joke.
- OTP
OTP stands for "one true pairing," a fan's favorite romantic couple in a show, book or fandom. In texts it can also mean "on the phone."
- peak
Peak is slang with two opposite meanings. Online it praises the best of something, as in "peak fiction." In British slang it means bad or unfair.
- peng
Peng is British slang for extremely attractive or excellent. A person can be peng, and so can a curry. Strongest in London, understood UK-wide.
- pick me
A pick me is someone, usually a woman, who seeks male approval by putting down other women: "I'm not like other girls." Men can be pick-mes too.
- pog
Pog is gamer slang for "awesome," shouted at a hype moment: "that clutch was pog!" It comes from PogChamp, a surprised-face emote on Twitch.
- rage bait
Rage bait is slang for online content made to anger people on purpose. Furious comments and shares push a post to far more viewers.
- ratio
Getting ratioed is internet slang for losing your own post. A reply got more likes than you did, or the replies swamped your likes.
- rizz
Rizz is slang for skill at flirting, the confidence and smooth talk to charm someone you're attracted to.
- roadman
A roadman is British slang for a streetwise young man deep in UK street culture. Think tracksuit and Air Max, London slang, grime and drill.
- shawty
Shawty is slang for a girlfriend, a crush or an attractive young woman: "hey shawty." It began as the Southern pronunciation of "shorty."
- sigma
Sigma is slang for someone cool, confident and independent who does their own thing. Kids now mostly say it as a joke, as in "what the sigma?"
- simp
A simp is slang for someone who does way too much for a person they like and gets nothing back. Simping means being openly devoted.
- situationship
A situationship is slang for a romance that is more than friends but less than partners. It stays unlabeled on purpose.
- skibidi
Skibidi is a nonsense slang word from the Skibidi Toilet YouTube series. Depending on tone it means cool, bad, or nothing at all.
- skill issue
Skill issue is gaming slang for "you lost because you're bad," a reply that rejects every excuse. Often said as a joke when the game itself is at fault.
- slay
Slay is slang for doing something extremely well or looking amazing. A one-word "slay" is praise, real or playful, for almost any win.
- smh
Smh is texting slang for "shaking my head." People send it when something is too foolish, wrong, or absurd for words.
- smurf
A smurf is gaming slang for a strong player on a new account. They hide their skill so the game matches them with beginners.
- soft launch
Soft launch is slang for hinting at a new partner on social media without showing their face or name: a hand, an elbow, two coffees. A hard launch shows all.
- stan
A stan is slang for an extremely devoted, sometimes obsessive fan. To stan someone is to support them hard. It comes from a 2000 Eminem song.
- sus
Sus is slang for suspicious or suspect: something feels off, dishonest, or not to be trusted. Among Us made it famous in 2020, but it is far older.
- sweat
A sweat is gaming slang for a player who tries extremely hard to win. They bring tournament effort into matches meant to be casual.
- talking stage
The talking stage is the phase before dating becomes official. Two people text and flirt daily, but nobody has said what they are.
- tuff
Tuff is slang for cool or impressive, tough respelled and used as praise. After bad news, "that's tuff" flips to mean that's rough.
- twin
Twin is slang for a close friend, used like "bro" or "bestie," or for someone who shares your exact taste. It doesn't mean you're related.
- wagwan
Wagwan is a greeting that means "what's going on." It comes from Jamaican Patois and is a staple of London slang.
- wallahi
Wallahi is Arabic for "by God," an oath that you are telling the truth. In London and Toronto slang it means "I swear" or "honestly."
- wasteman
A wasteman is a British insult for a man seen as useless: lazy, flaky, going nowhere. It comes from Jamaican Patois via London speech.
- wtw
Wtw is texting shorthand for "what's the word?", a casual "what's up?" or "what's the plan?" It can also mean "what the what," a mock-shocked reply.
- wyd
Wyd is texting shorthand for "what (are) you doing?" It works as a casual check-in, a way to see if someone is free, or a "why would you do that?"
- wyf
Wyf is texting shorthand for "where (are) you from?" It usually opens a getting-to-know-you chat. With "for," it can mean "what you feeling?"
- wyll
Wyll is texting shorthand for "what (do) you look like?" It asks someone you've only met online for a photo or a description of their looks.
- wyo
Wyo is texting shorthand for "what you on?" It asks what someone is up to or has planned, usually before making plans: "wyo tonight?"