United Kingdom · British Englishbanter
noun · Informal
Playful mutual teasing; the good-natured insult trading that holds British friendships together.
+1 more sense
Use with care
United Kingdom · British English
British Slang
British slang is unusually stratified. Class, region and age all leave fingerprints on it, and a word that reads as warm in Newcastle can read as sarcastic in Surrey. The country is small enough that speakers are broadly aware of each other's vocabulary and large enough that they rarely use it — most Britons can recognise far more slang than they would ever say out loud.
A recurring trap for visitors is understatement. A good deal of British informal speech means considerably more, or considerably less, than it literally says, and several entries below exist mainly to flag that gap.
67 terms, each with definitions and worked examples.
By topic
Each page below collects every British term we have on one subject, side by side.
Start with these
The terms below carry the most usage detail — register, origin and the situations where they go wrong. They are the ones worth reading in full before the rest.
All British slang A–Z
67 terms
Terms beginning with B
bare
adjective, adverb · Informal
A lot of; loads of. Counter-intuitively, it means the opposite of standard 'bare'.
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blimey
interjection · Informal
An exclamation of surprise. Dated but still in genuine use, particularly by older speakers.
bloke
noun · Informal
A man; a guy. Completely neutral, and the default word for an unnamed male.
bloody
adjective, adverb · Informal
A general-purpose intensifier expressing annoyance, emphasis or admiration: bloody hell, bloody brilliant, bloody typical.
Use with care
bollocks
noun, interjection · Vulgar
Nonsense, rubbish. That's complete bollocks.
+2 more senses
Use with care
bottle
noun, verb · Informal
Nerve, courage. He didn't have the bottle to ask.
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brew
noun · Regional
A hot drink, usually tea. Northern England's preferred term where the South says cuppa.
butty
noun · Regional
A sandwich, particularly a filled roll. A chip butty — chips in buttered bread — is the canonical example.
buzzing
adjective · Informal
Thrilled, elated, full of anticipation.
+1 more sense
Terms beginning with C
canny
adjective, adverb · Regional
In the North East of England: good, pleasant, considerable. A canny lad is a nice bloke; canny good means very good.
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cheeky
adjective · Informal
Impertinent in a way that is more amusing than offensive.
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cheers
interjection · Informal
Thanks. By far its most common use in Britain — far more often than as a toast.
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chippy
noun, adjective · Informal
A fish and chip shop.
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chuffed
adjective · Informal
Pleased, delighted — usually about something you had a hand in. Often intensified as chuffed to bits.
cuppa
noun · Colloquial
A cup of tea. Tea is assumed unless stated otherwise.
Terms beginning with D
dead
adverb · Informal
Very, extremely. An intensifier with no connection to the literal sense: dead good, dead easy.
dodgy
adjective · Informal
Suspicious, untrustworthy, probably illegal.
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dosh
noun · Informal
Money, cash. Slightly dated now — it peaked in the 1980s and 90s.
doss
verb, noun · Informal
To laze around doing nothing. Usually doss about.
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Terms beginning with F
faff
noun, verb · Informal
Pointless fuss and bother; unnecessary hassle. As a noun: it's a bit of a faff.
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fancy
verb · Colloquial
To be attracted to someone. I think she fancies you.
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fit
adjective · Informal
Physically attractive. Nothing to do with physical fitness, which regularly confuses American and Australian visitors.
Terms beginning with G
gaff
noun · Informal
A house or flat; someone's place. Round my gaff.
geezer
noun · Regional
A man, with a distinctly London flavour — often implying a certain streetwise swagger. A proper geezer is a compliment.
git
noun · Informal
An unpleasant or contemptible person. Mild as insults go, and frequently affectionate when prefixed: you lucky git, you daft git.
gobsmacked
adjective · Informal
Astounded; struck speechless with surprise.
grass
noun, verb · Informal
An informer; someone who reports others to the authorities.
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grim
adjective · Informal
Bleak, unpleasant, thoroughly bad. Applied to weather, places, moods and situations with equal ease.
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gutted
adjective · Informal
Bitterly disappointed. Used for losses that genuinely hurt — a job you didn't get, a match your team lost — and, ironically, for very small ones.
Terms beginning with I
Terms beginning with K
Terms beginning with L
Terms beginning with M
made up
adjective · Regional
Overjoyed. Strongly associated with Liverpool and the North West, though understood nationally.
mardy
adjective · Regional
Sulky, moody, in a strop. Strongly associated with the East Midlands and Yorkshire.
mate
noun · Informal
A friend. The most common word for one in British English.
+2 more senses
Use with care
minging
adjective · Informal · MING-ing, hard g
Disgusting; foul-smelling or filthy.
+1 more sense
Use with care
mint
adjective · Regional
Excellent, brilliant. Strongest in the North of England and Scotland.
muppet
noun · Informal
An incompetent fool. Implies not malice but a total absence of thought.
Terms beginning with N
naff
adjective · Informal
Tacky, in poor taste, unfashionable. Aimed squarely at things that are trying and failing to be impressive.
nick
verb, noun · Informal
To steal, usually something small.
+3 more senses
numpty
noun · Regional
A foolish or hapless person. Scottish in origin, now widely used across Britain, and notably good-humoured for an insult.
Terms beginning with O
Terms beginning with P
peng
adjective · Informal
Attractive; also, of food, delicious.
pillock
noun · Informal
An idiot. Mild, slightly old-fashioned, and more exasperated than aggressive.
pissed
adjective · Vulgar
Drunk. Note the transatlantic trap: in American English pissed means angry. British 'pissed off' means angry; plain 'pissed' does not.
Use with care
plonker
noun · Informal
A fool. Affectionate and dated, carried into general use by 1980s television.
proper
adverb, adjective · Informal
Very, really. As an intensifier before an adjective: proper cold, proper good.
+1 more sense
pull
verb, noun · Informal
To successfully attract a romantic or sexual partner on a night out.
+1 more sense
Terms beginning with Q
Terms beginning with R
Terms beginning with S
safe
interjection, adjective · Informal
Thanks; cool; understood. A general-purpose acknowledgement.
+2 more senses
scran
noun · Regional
Food; a meal. Common in the North of England, Scotland and among sailors and soldiers.
shattered
adjective · Informal
Extremely tired. Slightly milder in tone than knackered and safe in any company.
skint
adjective · Informal
Broke; having no money at all, usually temporarily.
skive
verb, noun · Informal
To avoid work or school by slipping away; to shirk. Often skive off.
snog
verb, noun · Informal
To kiss passionately; a prolonged kiss. Slightly adolescent in flavour.
sorted
adjective, interjection · Informal
Dealt with; arranged. That's the tickets sorted.
+2 more senses
sound
adjective, interjection · Informal
Of a person: reliable, decent, good company. He's sound.
+1 more sense