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

Can extend to any cheap, mass-produced thing, like fast fashion or spammy media.

In Nadsat, to slooshy is to hear or to listen. Source word: Russian 'slushat' (слушать), 'to listen'.

A banner or towel printed with an idol's name or image, waved or held up by fans during performances.

Improvised cosh: padlock (or batteries, or a tin of tuna) stuffed into the toe of a sock and swung at someone's head. Cheap, deniable, available from the commissary, and absolutely devastating. One of the most common homemade weapons inside US prisons.

A violent, jarring collision between two players, especially a huge tackle.

The difference between the price you expect on a trade and the price you actually get, caused by volatility or thin liquidity. DEX users set a slippage tolerance to control it.

The small, hard, leather-covered ball used in the Irish sports of hurling and camogie.

A survival course in Fall Guys where pink slime creeps up from below and you have to keep climbing past hazards or get eliminated. Stop moving and you're done.

Used as a friendly address, like "bro" or "homie."

sliding into dms

Sliding into someone's DMs means initiating a direct message on social media, usually flirtatiously, to try to start something.

More broadly, to slide can just mean to pull up, leave, or roll out somewhere — neutral movement slang.

slide into the dms

To send someone a private message out of nowhere, usually trying to flirt, hook up, or otherwise shoot your shot without doing it in public replies. The 'slide' implies smoothness; whether you actually pull it off is a separate question.

Come through. Casual — drop by the function, the studio, the trap, wherever.

A service member with nothing on the sleeve — no chevrons, no rocker, no rank stripe at all. In the US Marine Corps and Army that means a basic Private (E-1), straight out of boot, the very bottom of the food chain. Said with a mix of pity, ribbing, and 'remember when we were that green'. Sometimes also used for any new arrival who hasn't earned anything yet.

Used as a nickname for a cool, smooth-operating person.

A low-stakes genre focused on the mundane, everyday experiences of characters rather than grand plots; the calming subtype is called iyashikei.

One triangular piece of pizza, the default grab-and-go New York meal. 'Grab a slice' needs no further explanation.

To sleep on something is to miss or underestimate it.

From the Irish 'slíbhín.' Someone untrustworthy who hides it behind charm — the smiling backstabber, the politician who shakes your hand while picking your pocket. Heavier than 'chancer,' lighter than 'snake.' A proper Irish character assassination in two syllables.

A physique that appears unassuming when clothed but reveals an impressively muscular body once the shirt comes off.

Scots for sly, cunning, untrustworthy — someone smooth enough to talk you out of your wallet and leave you thanking them. Burns made it immortal in 'To a Mouse' ('Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie'), where it meant smooth or sleek. Modern usage is firmly on the shady side: think used-car-salesman energy with a Scottish accent.

A role in team shooters, big in Call of Duty, where one player is the designated killer. They hunt enemies all over the map so the objective players can do their thing uncontested.

Tied to the same rap scene that popularized "slime."

British nickname for general surgeons, from cutting into patients.