English dictionary, thesaurus, translations & etymology

Slang Dictionary — Modern Slang, Decoded

What does that word actually mean? Our slang dictionary explains modern slang clearly — Gen Z, internet, British and street slang — with real definitions, examples and where each term came from.

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Gen Z Slangrizz, delulu, slay Internet Slangbrainrot, based, mid British Slangpeng, bare, peak AAVEbussin, finna, cap

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Latest slang terms

A backpack, tote, or purse with a transparent panel used to display an eye-searing collection of enamel pins, charms, badges, and merch dedicated to a character or series.

Raining heavily. Also 'lashing rain' or 'lashing out of the heavens'.

A theatrical declaration of defeat, usually posted with the sad-Biden Wojak. Started as political doomerism but quickly generalized: you drop 'it's joever' for any L, from a sports loss to your phone hitting 1% in a tunnel.

A verdict on the energy something puts out. Drop a noun, adjective, or whole scene after it and you've nailed the aesthetic. Works as a compliment ('it's giving main character') or a drag ('it's giving try-hard') — tone does the steering.

It's freezing. The kind of cold that hits like a wall. Born in NYC and spread up through Boston and the Northeast via hip-hop — Cam'ron and the Dipset crew are usually credited with putting it on the map. Now standard cold-weather shorthand for anyone east of the Mississippi.

it is what it is

An expression of resigned acceptance — acknowledging a bad or annoying situation while signaling you've stopped resisting it.

it girl / it boy

The female or male idol who defines the current moment through popularity, influence, and buzz.

A female idol regarded as the defining, most influential star; 'it boy' is the male equivalent.

An intensifier of disbelief or amazement when something is hard to believe.

'Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance' — the coordinated collection and processing of battlefield information, often via aircraft, drones, and sensors to support commanders' decisions.

A contraction where the muscle produces force while holding a position without changing length, like a plank or wall sit.

An exercise that works essentially one muscle group across a single joint, like bicep curls or leg extensions.

Short for isolation; clearing out one side so a player can attack their defender one-on-one.

A traffic roundabout. While the rest of the country says 'roundabout', Birmingham and the West Midlands stuck with 'island' — short for 'traffic island'. Given Spaghetti Junction lives in Brummie heartland, they've earned the right to name them however they like.

First and foremost a real, celebrated Igbo delicacy — spicy goat's head stew served at weddings, chieftaincy ceremonies, and for honoured guests. Because it's treated as a premium, special-occasion dish, the name gets borrowed in slang to describe something (or someone) considered top quality, a big deal, or impressively put-together.

A wildly popular genre of anime, manga, and light novels in which an ordinary person is yanked into a fantasy or game-like world, usually with a power-up. The 'getting hit by a truck and reincarnating' setup is its signature cliche.

A verbal high-five. Said when something brilliant happens — your team scores, your mate gets the job, the round comes in on time. Half 'yes!', half 'too right', all Scouse. Can also just mean 'agreed' in a softer way.

is it ecker's like

Hard 'no'. Mancunian way of saying 'is it heck' — i.e. 'no it bloody isn't'. The 'like' on the end is mandatory northern garnish.

The Welsh tag question that gets bolted onto the end of just about any statement, regardless of what verb came before. Where standard English would say 'isn't it', 'didn't you', 'aren't they', the Welsh just go 'is it'. It's a check-in, a confirmation, a verbal nod — and once you start clocking it, you'll hear it everywhere from Cardiff to Caernarfon.

The outdoor free-weight equipment where inmates work out; a social and status hub on many yards.

Slang for the weights themselves and, by extension, the culture of lifting — as in 'pumping iron' or 'moving iron.'

'In real life' — the offline, physical world, contrasted with online/on-chain or metaverse activity; sometimes jokingly called 'meatspace'.

Used to express that all is well, one feels good, or a vibe is positive and harmonious; also a greeting. A cornerstone of Rasta and reggae vocabulary.

An Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence — an indefinite term with no fixed release date, abolished in 2012 but still affecting those sentenced under it.