15 Slang Words You Didn’t Know Were in the Dictionary

Vacay

Vacay is one of many modern entries that are simply shortened versions of actual words. According to Merriam-Webster, the truncated form of vacation was first used in 1991. Does this word-shortening trend signal the end of formal English? That’s something to mull over on your vacay, hopefully while you’re chilling with your beach read (another recent dictionary addition).

Bingeable

Language always adapts to new customs. Take watching TV, for example. Thanks to streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, we no longer get just one episode of our favorite shows a week. Entire seasons are often available to binge, aka watch back-to-back. Shows that are worthy of such a binge? They’re called bingeable. Here it is in a sentence: “Squid Game is the most bingeable show I’ve watched in a while! I finished Season Three in two days.” 

Hangry

Everyone gets cranky when they need to eat, and this slang combination word, or portmanteau, perfectly captures what’s going on: You’re angry because you’re hungry. Think hangry must be relatively new? Nope! This popular slang word actually has a surprising origin. Merriam-Webster reports the mashup hangry was first used in 1918, which is frankly hard to believe. But we checked the Oxford English Dictionary, the definitive guide to English language history, and yep, there it is, in a quote from author Arthur Ransome: “The elephant is very hungry and hangry from having had no dinner.”

Rando

This kind of sounds like a word that’s not really a word, but it’s now a fully accepted and dictionary-approved slang term for random. In years past, random was a way to express dismay at something that was unexpected or unwelcome: “That guy showing up at the party was so random.” But rando takes the disparaging adjective and turns it into a noun: “Some rando just showed up at the party.” And actually, Merriam-Webster says rando can also be used as an adjective, so we might be saying goodbye to random as slang altogether.

Hophead

If you thought hophead was an old-fashioned term for someone who uses drugs, you’d be correct. Urban Dictionary says that this slang word from the 1920s started in the jazz era, long before the beatniks made it popular again in the ’50s. But Merriam-Webster added a new slang definition of the word for modern times: It’s simply someone who likes to drink beer, especially hoppy beer and ale. For example: “Hopheads will go crazy for the taste of this IPA.”

Zoodle

Here’s a slang word in the dictionary that doesn’t sound real, but there it is in black and white: zoodle. This slang word originates from two common terms, zucchini and noodle. Shove them together, and what do you get? Zucchini in the shape of noodles, or zoodles. They’re used by parents to trick unsuspecting children into eating their vegetables or by dieters to trick themselves into thinking they’re eating carbs. “These zoodles taste amazing! You’d never know they were made with zukes.” (Yes, zucchini’s shortened slang form is also now in the dictionary.)

Adorbs

Some words don’t just get shortened; they get cutesy (some would say silly) by adding a tacked-on ending. In this case, the slang term adorbs, first used in 2008 but still going strong nearly two decades later, is short for adorable. Why? Who knows, but it is catchy. Use it in a sentence like this: “OMG, your new shoes are totes adorbs!” Of course, some people think it’s just one of those trendy slang words that seriously need to end, kind of like totes—another slang word in the dictionary.

Stinger

If you guessed this word refers to the pointy end of a bee or a harsh remark that stings, you’d be right. But now we have a new slang definition that has nothing to do with either of the previous meanings. Stinger now officially refers to the short scene that appears during or after the closing credits of a movie or TV show. As in: “Be sure to watch to the end of the credits, or you might miss the stinger.”

Mocktail

What do you call a cocktail without the alcohol? A mocktail! Don’t you love it when the exact right word rhymes with the one it’s replacing? Merriam-Webster notes that the word goes all the way back to 1916, making it a modern word that’s much older than you thought. But mocktail earned its place in the dictionary because of its recent gain in popularity. Globally, more and more bars and restaurants offer selections of tasty concoctions—without the hangover chaser.

Fabulosity

There’s already a noun for the adjective fabulous: the tongue-tying fabulousness. But fabulosity goes beyond that to embody a state of being fabulous, which is totally in step with modern times. But this word is not just about glamour: Fabulosity encompasses loving yourself, having style and exuding charisma. For example: “Her friends encouraged her to get in touch with her inner fabulosity.” Still not getting it? Might be time to catch up on that Gen Z slang.

TL;DR

Apparently, words don’t even have to be words anymore to make it into the dictionary. This one even has a punctuation mark to accompany it! No idea what TL;DR means? We’ll give you a clue: Moby Dick, War and Peace and most articles in the New Yorker could merit a TL;DR. It’s short for “too long; didn’t read.” It started in early online forums and message boards to give readers a brief summation of a preceding lengthy post. But now, the abbreviation has gone beyond its original, and occasionally snarky, usage to be more mainstream. You can find TL;DR on news articles and even business communications these days. For example, your HR department might send out a memo that starts, “The TL;DR of the new policy is that …”

Bougie

This slang word in the dictionary is a shortened version of bourgeois, which refers to people who seem overly concerned with wealth and possessions. Though it looks like it could be pronounced like boogie or even boojy (if that were a real word), it actually has a zh sound like measure. While bourgeois dates back centuries, the slang version more recently debuted in the dictionary. You can use it as an adjective, as in “I don’t go to that bar anymore because it’s too bougie,” or as a noun: “I don’t go to that bar anymore because it’s full of bougies.”

Mansplain

Women likely know the mansplaining phenomena, but for others, it’s what happens when men talk condescendingly to a woman about a subject the woman knows well but the man doesn’t. For example: “He mansplained to me how to do my job, and he doesn’t even work here!” The idea (if not the exact term) started with author Rebecca Solnit, who met a man at a party who lectured her about a book she herself wrote. Some say the word is overused, making it a buzzword people love to hate. But there’s no debating its influence on the culture and language.

Ribbie

Words can become abbreviations, and sometimes, abbreviations can become words. Baseball fans will know ribbie as the phonetic pronunciation of the term RBI, or runs batted in. (For the uninitiated, an RBI is a credit a batter gets for making a play that allows a runner to score.) Ribbie isn’t an acronym, which refers only to an abbreviation that’s pronounced as a word (like UNICEF), nor is it a word like laser, an acronym that became a plain old lowercase word. 

Ribbie, like emcee and deejay, belongs to a small category of words that are formed by spelling out and rendering pronounceable their initials, according to Merriam-Webster. Unlike an acronym, where every letter is pronounced (like FBI), ribbie is made pronounceable by adding letters and sounds. And now it’s recognized in its own right.

Fave

Of all the words on this list, fave is probably the most common and long-lived. Everyone says this one! Fave is short for favorite, and the truncation traces all the way back to 1938. Merriam-Webster also allows for fav as an alternative spelling, but fave is more common. Most people would use it in a sentence like this: “My fave slang word in the dictionary has to be fave.”

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Sources:

• LA Times: “Men who explain things”
• Merriam Webster: “200 New Words and Definitions Added to Merriam-Webster.com”
• Merriam-Webster: “Online Dictionary”
• Merriam Webster: “Ribbie”
• Merriam Webster: “What’s an initialism?”
• Oxford English Dictionary: “Hangry”
• Urban Dictionary: “Hophead”