Slang of the 2020s
Terms first attested in the 2020s.
49 terms
Charisma, charm, or the ability to attract a romantic partner through smooth talk and confident ener…
Mediocre — distinctly worse than good, slightly better than bad. A dismissive verdict that something…
Suspicious; giving off the feeling something isn't right. "He's acting sus" = something's off. Can t…
(slang) A close-up taken with the ultrawide lens of a smartphone camera, resulting in a distorted ap…
The lifecycle of online platforms: first they're good to users, then they squeeze users to please ad…
The vibe or energy someone gives off, quantified in imaginary "aura points." Cool moments add aura (…
Describing AI systems that can plan, take actions, and use tools autonomously across multi-step task…
A dinner cobbled together from random fridge scraps — cheese, crackers, pickles, olives, leftover pa…
Derogatory slang for an AI system, robot, or automated agent — especially when it fails spectacularl…
Low-effort AI-generated content flooding the internet — generic images, soulless blog posts, fake pr…
The mental state of consuming too much low-quality repetitive short-form content. Also refers to the…
An aesthetic and vibe — messy, unapologetic, slightly unhinged fun. Defined the summer of 2024 via C…
Building software by describing what you want to an AI and accepting whatever it produces — often wi…
A formative, inevitable, sometimes-embarrassing experience that everyone goes through — you can't in…
A fashion aesthetic defined by expensive-looking minimalism — no logos, impeccable fabrics, neutral …
Patagonia vest, plain tee, dark jeans, white sneakers, AirPods. The uncomfortable uniform of every S…
Deliberately doing cool, low-effort things just to look effortlessly stylish — posing against a wall…
(Internet slang, usually, ironic) To masturbate rapidly.
A nonsense adjective and intensifier used by Gen Alpha. Meaning is fully contextual — can be positiv…
(Internet slang) One should not complain about having a good thing.
Used ironically after the viral phrase "very demure, very mindful." Describes anyone behaving modest…
The summer of 2024, reimagined through Charli XCX's "brat" aesthetic — lime green, messy nights, cig…
A confident 4-mile walk where you only think about three things: how hot you are, what you're gratef…
Anthropic's CLI that turns Claude into an agentic pair-programmer with filesystem, shell, and web ac…
The craft of writing inputs to LLMs to reliably produce the output you want. Includes role-setting, …
Hyper-feminine aesthetic of pink bows, pearls, lace, mary-janes, white stockings. Lana-del-Rey-adjac…
Doing only the work explicitly required by your job description — no unpaid overtime, no extra proje…
Taking a bite or portion of a friend's food without asking — a playful "tax" on their meal. Reach ac…
A lifestyle look evoking inherited wealth — tennis whites, sweaters draped over shoulders, Ralph Lau…
Large Language Model. The AI systems (GPT, Claude, Gemini) trained on massive text corpora that powe…
An aesthetic built around looking effortlessly put-together: slicked-back bun, gold hoops, dewy skin…
Attack vector where untrusted input (a webpage, a PDF, a tool output) contains instructions that tri…
Unapologetically lazy, messy, gluttonous behavior — pajamas all weekend, takeout wrappers on the bed…
Excessive, sycophantic praise from an AI assistant — "What a brilliant question!" style. OpenAI famo…
The shaking-face emoji. Used for shock, overwhelm, or disbelief — the visual equivalent of "no way, …
Something that affects you more than expected — a song, food, or moment that lands harder in a speci…
A dismissive reply implying someone's problem is their own lack of skill, not the tool or system. Cl…
A maximalist aesthetic of big fur coats, leopard print, chunky gold, red nails, and 1990s Italian-Am…
A girl who embodies the brat aesthetic — confident, messy, fun, a little self-destructive. The anti-…
To talk excessively about nothing important. A "yapper" is someone who won't stop talking; a "yap se…
Retrieval-Augmented Generation. A pattern where an LLM pulls relevant documents from a vector databa…
Excessively praising or kissing up to someone. In Gen Z usage it's the social register; in tech it a…
The imaginary score tallying how cool your actions are. Winning a game with a trick shot? +500. Trip…
Short for "uncle." Used to address or describe an older guy — affectionately ("unc just came through…
"Shut yo bitch ass up." Used dismissively — usually jokingly — in 2025 TikTok comments when someone …
A meaningless catchphrase + hand gesture (palms up, rocking side to side) spreading through middle s…
The Phoebe Bridgers / Mitski / Clairo sphere — melancholy indie rock with introspective, often devas…
Pressing the tongue against the roof of the mouth, allegedly to sharpen the jawline. Became a meme a…
An exclamation of surprise or admiration — typically at someone's body shape. Essentially a stylized…