Absinthe is a strong anise-flavoured spirit, historically associated with bohemian Paris and once banned for supposed psychoactive effects (mostly debunked). Adult beverage; legal in most countries now. If your kid uses it constantly, ask them where they first heard it, not to police their speech but to understand which online community they are in. Most slang of this kind moves through TikTok and group chats, so seeing it in your child's vocabulary just means they are plugged into normal teen internet culture.
absinthe
The herb absinthium (grande wormwood); essence of wormwood.
ˈæb.sɪnθDocumented since 1840sSilenthistoricalCurrent291 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026＋ Add a definition
Etymology timeline
Born ~1840 · 1 year of recorded use19th centurySee decade cohort →
Seen in the wild
BlueskyMay 2026
I noticed at 13 of the top 100 European Bars was Bar Marsella, Barcelona. Went there with Sandy long ago. Absinthe!
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BlueskyMay 2026
A mixed drink of ice absinthe and orange juice served on fire
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Firecrawl: Absinthe (show) - Wikipedia
6"](http://www.playbill.com/news/article/120097-Spiegelworld-Returns-to-Manhattan-with-Absinthe-Aug-6). _[Playbill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playbill "Playbill")_.
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Firecrawl: Absinthe - Wikipedia
While sometimes casually referred to as a [liqueur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liqueur "Liqueur"), absinthe is not traditionally bottled with sugar or sweeteners.[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe#cite_…
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Firecrawl: Absinthe: How the Green Fairy became literature's drink - BBC
Jane Ciabattari investigates the green spirit’s peculiar power.** Arthur Rimbaud called absinthe the “sagebrush of the glaciers” because a key ingredient, the bitter-tasting herb _Artemisia absinthium_ or wormwood, is…
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Definitions
Global
#1·Apr 27, 2026Global
The herb absinthium (grande wormwood); essence of wormwood.
Absinthe ads like to trade on artists like Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec, as if the history of the green fairy began in the Pigalle neighborhood of 1870s Paris, but wormwood-infused drinks have been around for thousands of years.
Origin: * (wormwood; figuratively bitterness, sorrow): From . * (liquor): From Modern . Both from , from , from .. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
For parents
Absinthe is a strong anise-flavoured spirit, historically associated with bohemian Paris and once banned for supposed psychoactive effects (mostly debunked). Adult beverage; legal in most countries now. If your kid uses it constantly, ask them where they first heard it, not to police their speech but to understand which online community they are in. Most slang of this kind moves through TikTok and group chats, so seeing it in your child's vocabulary just means they are plugged into normal teen internet culture.
For ESL learners
Absinthe is a high-proof anise-flavoured distilled spirit, traditionally with notes of wormwood. Use in beverage and historical writing. Formal equivalent: "absinthe" (the spirit's standard name). Common non-native mistake: spelling as "absinth" (which exists but is less common in English) or assuming hallucinogenic effects (largely debunked; the historical reputation was exaggerated). Read or listen to the word in context several times before trying it yourself; the right register is harder to learn than the dictionary meaning.
Heard in the wild
“I noticed at 13 of the top 100 European Bars was Bar Marsella, Barcelona. Went there with Sandy long ago. Absinthe!”
— Bluesky· May 2026“A mixed drink of ice absinthe and orange juice served on fire”
— Bluesky· May 2026“6"](http://www.playbill.com/news/article/120097-Spiegelworld-Returns-to-Manhattan-with-Absinthe-Aug-6). _[Playbill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playbill "Playbill")_.”
“While sometimes casually referred to as a [liqueur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liqueur "Liqueur"), absinthe is not traditionally bottled with sugar or sweeteners.[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe#cite_note-6) Absinthe is traditionally bottled at a high level of alcohol by volume, but it is normally diluted with water before being consumed.”
“Jane Ciabattari investigates the green spirit’s peculiar power.** Arthur Rimbaud called absinthe the “sagebrush of the glaciers” because a key ingredient, the bitter-tasting herb _Artemisia absinthium_ or wormwood, is plentiful in the icy Val-de-Travers region of Switzerland.”
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Global
#2·Apr 27, 2026Global
A distilled, highly alcoholic, anise-flavored liquor originally made from grande wormwood, anise, and other herbs.
Absinthe ads like to trade on artists like Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec, as if the history of the green fairy began in the Pigalle neighborhood of 1870s Paris, but wormwood-infused drinks have been around for thousands of years.
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Global
#3·Apr 27, 2026Global
(figurative) Bitterness; sorrow.
Absinthe ads like to trade on artists like Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec, as if the history of the green fairy began in the Pigalle neighborhood of 1870s Paris, but wormwood-infused drinks have been around for thousands of years.
Origin: also absinth (though properly that means "wormwood"), "bitter, pale-green alcoholic liqueur distilled from wine mixed with wormwood" ( Artemisia Absinthium), 1842, from French absinthe, "essence of wormwood" (short for extrait d'absinthe) from Latin absinthum "wormwood," from Greek apsinthion, which is perhaps from Persian (compare Persian aspand, of the same meaning). The wormwood plant itself is figurative of "bitter" sorrow; it was known as absinth in English from c. 1500; Old English used the word in the Latin form. The drink itself attained popularity from its heavy use by French soldiers
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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