100+ Most Common American Slang Words

The English language is constantly evolving, and new words and phrases emerge all the time. American slang words are particularly interesting because it offers a unique insight into the culture of the United States.

What is American slang?

American slang is a diverse and constantly evolving part of the English language that is often influenced by regional and cultural differences.

Top 10 Common American Slang Words:

  • Let – cool, exciting or fun.
  • Sick – cool or impressive.
  • Chill – relaxed or calm.
  • Bae – a term of endearment for someone you love or care about.
  • Gonna – going to.
  • Woke – aware and informed about social and political issues.
  • Fam – family or close friends.
  • Savage – ruthless or unapologetic.
  • Hella – very or a lot.
  • Ghost – to suddenly stop responding or disappear without explanation.

American Slang Words

  • Yas – An enthusiastic affirmation or agreement.
  • Y’all – A contraction of “you all”
  • Woke – Being aware of social issues and injustices.
  • Wassup – A slang greeting, meaning “what’s up?”
  • Turnt – Used to describe someone who is highly excited or intoxicated
  • Throw shade – To make negative or insulting remarks towards someone
  • Swag – Stylish confidence
  • Squad – A group of friends or associates
  • Slide into DMs – To initiate a private conversation on social media with romantic intentions.
  • Slay – To do something exceptionally well
  • Sip tea – To mind your own business or avoid drama
  • Shook – Feeling surprised or shocked
  • Ship – To endorse or support a romantic pairing between two people
  • Scoop – To obtain or acquire something
  • Savage – Used to describe someone who is tough or ruthless
  • Salty – Resentful or bitter
  • On fleek – Used to describe something that is perfect or flawless
  • No cap – A phrase meaning “I’m not lying” or “I’m being serious”
  • Lituation – A situation that is exciting or enjoyable
  • Litty – A variation of “lit” used to describe something that is highly enjoyable or exciting
  • Lit – Used to describe something that is exciting or amazing
  • Lame – Something that is uncool or boring
  • JOMO – An acronym for “Joy Of Missing Out” (the opposite of FOMO)
  • I’m dead – Used to express disbelief or amusement
  • Hundo P – An abbreviation for “100 percent” or “absolutely”
  • Hella – Very or extremely
  • Hater – Someone who expresses negativity towards someone or something
  • Gucci – Good or great
  • Gonna – A contraction of “going to”
  • GOAT – An acronym for “Greatest Of All Time”
  • Glow up – A positive transformation in appearance or lifestyle
  • Gangsta – A term for someone who is tough or fearless
  • FOMO – An acronym for “Fear Of Missing Out”
  • Flex – To show off or boast
  • Fam – A term for close friends or family members
  • Dope – Cool or awesome
  • Crash – To fall asleep suddenly
  • Chill – To relax or take it easy
  • Bounce – To leave or depart
  • Boo – A term of affection for a significant other
  • Bet – Ashortened version of “you bet”, meaning “okay” or “agreed”
  • Basic – Used to describe someone or something that is unoriginal or mainstream
  • Bae – A term of endearment for a significant other

Most Common American Slang Words

Also Read: British Slang words

Slang Words In English With Meaning and Sentences

  • Lit – exciting or enjoyable
  • Sentence: “That party was so lit!”
  • Dope – cool or excellent
  • Sentence: “Your new shoes are so dope!”
  • Squad – a group of friends or associates
  • Sentence: “I’m hanging out with my squad tonight.”
  • Chill – to relax or take it easy
  • Sentence: “I just want to chill and watch a movie tonight.”
  • Sick – impressive or awesome
  • Sentence: “That trick on the skateboard was sick!”
  • Gnarly – extreme or cool in a rough way
  • Sentence:“The waves today were gnarly.”
  • Hella – a lot or very
  • Sentence: “I’m hella tired from staying up late last night.”
  • Cray – crazy or insane
  • Sentence: “That rollercoaster was so cray!”
  • Wack – uncool or lame
  • Sentence: “That movie was wack, let’s watch something else.”
  • Bummer – a disappointment or setback
  • Sentence:“It’s a bummer that the concert got canceled.”
  • Ace – excellent or very good
  • Sentence: “You did an ace job on that project!”
  • Rad – cool or awesome
  • Sentence: “Those sunglasses are so rad!”
  • Lame – uncool or boring
  • Sentence: “I’m not going to that party, it’s lame.”
  • Bae – a term of endearment for a significant other
  • Sentence: “I’m going out with my bae tonight.”
  • Crush – a strong attraction or infatuation
  • Sentence: “I have a crush on my co-worker.”
  • Slay – to do something very well
  • Sentence: “She totally slayed that performance!”
  • Gucci – good or all good
  • Sentence: “Everything’s Gucci, no worries.”
  • Fam – short for family or close friends
  • Sentence: “I’m spending time with my fam this weekend.”
  • Woke – aware and knowledgeable about social and political issues
  • Sentence: “She’s so woke, she’s always fighting for justice.”
  • Savage – fierce or unapologetic
  • Sentence: “She’s a savage when it comes to competition.”
  • FOMO – fear of missing out
  • Sentence: “I don’t want to skip the party, I have FOMO.”
  • Dank – cool or impressive
  • Sentence: “That artwork is so dank!”
  • Suss – to investigate or figure something out
  • Sentence: “I need to suss out what happened.”
  • Yolo – you only live once
  • Sentence: “Let’s go skydiving, YOLO!”
  • Sesh – short for session, a gathering of friends to do something
  • Sentence: “We’re having a movie sesh tonight.”
  • Swag – style or confidence
  • Sentence: “She’s got so much swag.”
  • Hundo P – short for “100 percent”
  • Sentence: “I’m hundo P sure I left my keys at the office.”
  • Lowkey – secretly or discreetly
  • Sentence: “I’m lowkey excited for the new season of my favorite show.”
  • Fleek – perfect or flawless
  • Sentence:“Your makeup is on fleek!”
  • GOAT – greatest of all time
  • Sentence: “LeBron James is the GOAT of basketball.”

Slang Words In English

American Slang Phrases

  • Amped – excited or hyped up
  • Bummed out – disappointed or sad
  • Cool beans –  “okay” or “great”
  • Epic fail – a major failure or mistake
  • Hangry – irritable or angry due to hunger
  • Killing it – doing extremely well
  • On point – accurate or precise
  • Piece of cake – something that is easy to do
  • Take a chill pill – a phrase telling someone to calm down or relax
  • Winning – doing very well or succeeding.
  • Ain’t nobody got time for that –  “I’m not interested” or “I don’t have time for that”
  • Cheddar – money or cash
  • Deadass –  “seriously” or “I’m not joking”
  • Fam bam – a term for a close-knit group of friends or family members
  • Gimme five – a phrase used for a high-five
  • I’m outta here –  “I’m leaving”
  • Keep it 100 – to be honest or truthful
  • Lit AF – a variation of “lit” meaning extremely exciting or awesome
  • Netflix and chill – a euphemism for a casual sexual encounter
  • No worries –  “don’t worry about it”
  • Off the chain – something that is really exciting or impressive
  • Peace out – “goodbye”
  • Pop a squat – to sit down
  • Real talk –  “honest conversation”
  • Slay queen/king – a term of praise for someone who is killing it or doing something exceptionally well
  • Throwback – something from the past, often nostalgic
  • Totally – a word meaning “absolutely” or “completely”
  • Turn up – to party or have a good time
  • What’s good? –  “what’s up?” or “how are you?”

American Slang Phrases

American Sayings

  • All bark and no bite – someone who talks tough but doesn’t follow through
  • Bite the bullet – to face a difficult situation head-on
  • Break a leg – a phrase used to wish someone good luck
  • Don’t count your chickens before they hatch – don’t assume something will happen before it actually does
  • Drive someone up the wall – to annoy someone
  • Get a taste of your own medicine – to experience something you have done to someone else
  • Hang in there – a phrase used to encourage someone to persevere through a difficult situation
  • Hit the hay – to go to bed
  • In the same boat – in a similar situation as someone else
  • On the ball – someone who is sharp or quick to understand things
  • Piece of cake – something that is easy to do
  • Rain check – a postponement of plans to a later date
  • The ball is in your court – it’s up to you to make a decision or take action
  • The early bird gets the worm – those who act early in life or work will succeed
  • When pigs fly – a humorous way to say that something will never happen.

American Sayings

Italian American Slang

  • Fuggetaboutit – an expression meaning “forget about it”
  • Mamaluke – a term for a foolish or incompetent person
  • Capisce? – a question meaning “do you understand?”
  • Gavone – a term for someone who is gluttonous or lazy
  • Goomba – a term for a close friend or companion
  • Madone – an expression of surprise or disbelief
  • Muzzarella – a way of pronouncing “mozzarella” with an Italian accent
  • Paisan – a term for a fellow Italian or Italian-American
  • Pizzafication – a term for the process of Americanizing pizza with non-traditional toppings
  • Rigatoni – a slang term for a revolver or gun.

Italian American Slang

American Slang Expressions

  • Bite me – a rude way of telling someone to leave you alone or expressing anger
  • Cool beans – an expression of approval or agreement
  • Don’t sweat it – a way of saying “don’t worry about it”
  • Eyes peeled – to be watchful and alert
  • Far out – an expression of excitement or enthusiasm
  • Freak out – to become extremely upset or excited
  • Hang loose – to relax or take it easy
  • Nailed it – to successfully complete a task or perform well
  • No worries – a way of saying “it’s okay” or “don’t worry about it”
  • Take a chill pill – to calm down or relax.

American Slang Expressions

American Slang Words 2022

  • Vaxxed – vaccinated against COVID-19
  • Boosted – received a COVID-19 booster shot
  • Flu – to fake or exaggerate – “He’s totally flu-ing, he doesn’t really have a Lamborghini.”
  • Simp – someone who does too much for someone they have a crush on
  • Glow up – a dramatic improvement in appearance or confidence
  • Cancel – to publicly reject or boycott someone or something – “I’m going to cancel that celebrity, I don’t like their behavior.”
  • Cheugy – out of style or uncool – “Those shoes are so cheugy.”
  • Karen – a derogatory term for an entitled or demanding woman
  • Poggers – a term of excitement or approval – “That play was so poggers!”
  • No cap – no lie or no joke – “I’m no cap, that concert was amazing.”
  • Savage – ruthless or unapologetic – “She’s such a savage when it comes to competition.”
  • Ship – to support or endorse a romantic relationship between two people – “I totally ship those two characters on the TV show.”
  • GOAT – greatest of all time – “LeBron James is the GOAT of basketball.”
  • Yeet – to throw or discard something with force – “I’m going to yeet this old sweater.”
  • Clout – influence or popularity – “He’s got a lot of clout on social media.”
  • TFW – an acronym for “that feeling when” – “TFW you finally finish a project you’ve been working on for months.”
  • Flex – to show off or boast – “He’s always flexing his new car.”
  • Salty – bitter or resentful – “She’s salty because she didn’t get the promotion.”
  • AF – an acronym for “as f***” – “That party was lit AF!”
  • Gucci – good or all good – “Everything’s Gucci, no worries.”

American Slang Words 2022

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