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

Romance that goes where vanilla romance won't. Mafia bosses, stalkers, captors, anti-heroes who do genuinely awful things. The point isn't that it's pretending to be wholesome — it's labelled, content-warned, and read with full consent by an audience that wants the danger. Massive on BookTok and a publishing juggernaut.

An expression reflecting the Marine ideal that there are no black or white Marines, only 'dark green' and 'light green' ones — all Marine green first.

A mood romanticizing learning, mystery, and old-world intellectual life.

A close male friend, homie, or gang associate. The UK drill spin on 'dawg' — same energy, different accent. You'll hear it all over London road rap when someone's repping their inner circle.

Cool or great; originating in Aboriginal English of south-western Western Australia and adopted by teens more broadly.

Cockney rhyming slang for 'moan' (to complain), and separately a byword for a devoted old married couple.

To flirt or persuade someone with a stream of smooth talk and compliments. The talk itself is 'muela'.

Plimsolls, gym shoes, the canvas pumps you wore for PE. By extension, trainers in general for many South Wales speakers. Rest of the UK calls them pumps, plimsolls, sandshoes or gutties depending where you're from — in Wales and Bristol, they're daps.

By extension, someone with smooth, polished charm.

A greeting handshake — a pound, fist-bump, or intricate ritual between friends. To 'give dap' is to greet or show respect.

A Decentralised Autonomous Organisation is a community-run entity whose rules and treasury are managed on-chain, with decisions made by token-holder voting rather than centralised management.

A global Twitch emote for disgust or displeasure at something on stream.

The thick, geometric walls of bullets a shmup throws at you. Looks impossible until you learn to read the gaps and thread through.

Top-shelf marijuana — sticky, pungent, resinous. The word means damp/musty in plain English, which is exactly what good bud smells like out the jar. National stoner slang, but Houston uses it the same way.

A snake, rendered in the deliberately childish 'doggo lingo' that took over Reddit in the mid-2010s. Part of a whole bestiary — sneks, danger noodles, trash pandas, floofers, mlems. The joke is the mismatch between the cutesy framing and the actual lethal reptile in the photo.

A term in a call for fire or close air support warning that the target is close enough to friendly forces that the supporting fires pose a risk to them, requiring extra care and often ground-commander approval.

A field term for a location where a unit is exposed to enemy observation or fire (an open field, road, or bridge) and must use special crossing techniques.

A silent, asocial or intensely shy character who is too nervous to speak much in public but becomes sweet and talkative around the person they love.

A relaxed walk or stroll; as a verb, to amble along.

The subgroup of members recognized as the best dancers, often leading dance breaks. A key part of a group's live power.

The dramatic, usually vocal-free part of a performance where the dance line takes over with the most intense choreography.

A casual term of address for a person, similar to 'man' or 'dude', used with friends or strangers.

A request to be filled in — 'give me the info' or 'tell me a good story'.

'Leave me alone' or 'give me a break'. Also 'suéltame en banda' (let go of me).