Most slang definitions on the internet are bad. They're inside jokes, half-remembered punchlines, or just the word being used in a sentence with no actual meaning explained. A good definition has a different job: it should let a reader who's never heard the word use it correctly within a minute of finishing the entry.
Here's a working framework, with examples.
The four-part structure
A solid slang entry usually has four parts:
- The core meaning. One sentence, ideally fewer than 25 words. What does this word actually mean?
- The connotation. Is it positive, negative, ironic, neutral? Who uses it? Is it dated?
- An example sentence. A real-sounding usage. Not a dictionary illustration — a thing a person would actually say.
- Etymology when known. Where did it come from? Even a partial origin ("popularized by streamer X in 2022") is more useful than nothing.
Example: a good entry vs. a bad one
Bad
Rizz: when you got the rizz fr fr 💀💀💀
The reader learns nothing. There's no meaning, no connotation, no example, no etymology. The emoji and "fr fr" signal that the writer knows the word but aren't actually doing the work of defining it.
Better
Rizz (n., v.) — Charisma, especially the kind that makes flirting successful. Someone with rizz can talk to a stranger and end the conversation with their number; "no rizz" describes the opposite.
Used positively. Common across Gen Z and Gen Alpha as of 2026, though arguably past peak.
Example: "Bro pulled out one line and had her laughing. That's unspoken rizz."
Etymology: short for "charisma." Popularized by streamer Kai Cenat around 2021–2022; selected as Oxford's word of the year in 2023.
See the actual entry: rizz on Slangora.
Five common mistakes
1. Defining the word with the word
Bad: "Rizz is when you have rizz." This is the most common failure mode in slang dictionaries. If your definition only makes sense to people who already know the word, you're not defining it.
2. Skipping the connotation
"Mid" technically means "average." But the word does no work in real sentences as a neutral term — it's almost always disdainful. A definition that doesn't flag this leaves readers confused when they try to use it.
3. Confusing the example for the definition
Bad: "Cap: 'no cap, that meal was fire.'" The example shows the word being used, but the meaning ("lie") is never stated. Good entries name the meaning and show usage.
4. Inventing etymology
If you don't know where a word came from, say so. "Origin unclear; possibly from X" is fine. Confidently stating a false origin is worse than nothing — it gets copy-pasted, ages badly, and undermines trust in the rest of the entry. See AAVE and internet slang for a recurring example.
5. Inside-joke definitions
Bad: "Skibidi: when the toilets are the cameras and the cameras are the toilets and the speakers are the speakers." Funny if you watched the show. Useless to the 90% of readers who didn't. A good entry can reference the source ("from Skibidi Toilet, a viral YouTube series"), but the meaning has to land for someone who hasn't seen the source.
Tone and length
Slang lives in informal English. Your definition should too. A definition that reads like the OED is also wrong — it strips out the very thing slang is doing. Aim for: clear like a textbook, friendly like a knowledgeable friend explaining at a party.
Length-wise, most entries should be 60–200 words. If you can't define it in 200 words, you might be defining multiple senses — split them.
Multiple senses
Many slang words have more than one meaning. Sigma originated in masculinity-internet circles meaning a specific archetype, but Gen Alpha uses it loosely to mean "cool." A good entry surfaces both. Order them by current prevalence:
Sigma (n., adj.)
1. (Most common, Gen Alpha) — A generic compliment for someone admirably unbothered, confident, or cool.
2. (Original, masculinity-internet) — The "lone wolf" male archetype, a self-styled alternative to "alpha male" that emphasizes independence over hierarchy. The sense that produced (1) but is rarely meant by it now.
If you're submitting to Slangora
Slangora has a moderation queue. The fastest path to approval is following the structure above. Specifically:
- Write a one-sentence core meaning, then a paragraph of nuance.
- Always include an example sentence in the example field.
- If you know the origin, fill in the etymology field. If you don't, leave it blank instead of guessing.
- One definition per submission. If a word has multiple senses, submit them as separate definitions.
- No slurs, no harassment of named people, no fabricated meanings.
See the full submission guidelines for the moderation rules. For why we moderate at all, see how Slangora works.
The shorter version
Imagine the reader has never heard the word, will read the entry once, and will then have to use it in a sentence in front of someone who'll judge them. Write the definition that gets them through that moment. Everything else is decoration.