gallus
Bold, cheeky, confident — sometimes overconfident.
Etymology timeline
Born ~1872 · 1 year of recorded useSeen in the wild
POL-F: 260506 - 0569 Frankfurt-Gallus: Schwerer Raub von Fahrrad - Zeugenaufruf Presseportal.de Artikel vom 06.05.26 - 13:26 Uhr #Polizei #Frankfurt
My wee fox cubs are getting gallus
DYK Roman goddess #Cybele's mortal consorts pledged sexual purity? Her priests—galli—castrated themselves, penis as well as testicles, & #CrossDressed as women. “Gallus”, like “cinaedi”, was a term of ridicule for pas…
Definitions
Bold, cheeky, confident — sometimes overconfident. Scottish, especially Glaswegian. "Gallus weans" = bold kids.
“My wee fox cubs are getting gallus”
"That's a gallus move."
“POL-F: 260506 - 0569 Frankfurt-Gallus: Schwerer Raub von Fahrrad - Zeugenaufruf Presseportal.de Artikel vom 06.05.26 - 13:26 Uhr #Polizei #Frankfurt”
— Bluesky· May 2026“My wee fox cubs are getting gallus”
— Bluesky· May 2026“DYK Roman goddess #Cybele's mortal consorts pledged sexual purity? Her priests—galli—castrated themselves, penis as well as testicles, & #CrossDressed as women. “Gallus”, like “cinaedi”, was a term of ridicule for passive or effeminate men. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #trans”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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Show 1 more dictionary-style sense (imported)
One strap of a pair of galluses (suspenders).
"gallus" means one strap of a pair of galluses (suspenders). It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.
"gallus" is informal English meaning one strap of a pair of galluses (suspenders). It is used widely across English varieties. A more formal or neutral equivalent would be something like "one strap of a pair of galluses (suspenders)" expressed in standard vocabulary. A common mistake is to assume "gallus" can replace its standard equivalent in every register; keep it for spoken or casual situations and use the formal form in writing. If you are a B2 or C1 learner, it is useful to recognise this word when you hear or read it, but think carefully about whether the situation really calls for it before using it yourself.
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
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Related terms
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Semantically related
- crousely63%
(Scotland) In a brisk, lively or bold manner.
- brass neck62%
(idiomatic, UK, Ireland) A person with gall.
- brass neck62%
(idiomatic, UK, Ireland) Gall, shamelessness, cheek.
- crousely62%
A Scottish adverb meaning in a brisk, lively, confident, or bold manner. 'Crouse' in Scots means cheerful, brisk, and self-assured — crousely describes someone walking, speaking, or acting with confidence and energy. Rarely heard outside Scottish dialectal usage.
- gallowsness61%
(slang, rare, archaic) recklessness.