English Reference

Word

shit

US/ˈʃɪt/

UK/ʃˈɪt/

Definitions

01waste

C1 · Advanced Uncountable noun Vulgar · Informal

n. solid waste that comes out of the body.

n. fecal matter or excrement. Highly vulgar in most social contexts.

“He stepped in some dog shit while walking through the park.”

“The sanitation workers had to deal with raw shit leaking from the broken pipe in the basement.”

Usage

Usually uncountable when referring to the substance.

02stuff or things

C1 · Advanced Uncountable noun Vulgar · Slang · Informal

n. a collection of things, belongings, or activities.

n. a collection of items, events, or personal belongings; often used to refer to one's life or situation generally.

“I need to go home and pack all my shit before the flight.”

“She told him to get his shit together if he wanted to keep his job at the firm.”

Usage

Uncountable; often used with possessives like 'my shit' or 'your shit'.

Synonyms

03nonsense or lies

C1 · Advanced Uncountable noun Vulgar · Slang · Informal

n. something that is not true or is of very poor quality.

n. deceptive talk, nonsense, or worthless information.

“Don't believe him; he's just talking shit to make himself look good.”

“The politician's speech was full of the same old shit that nobody believes anymore.”

Usage

Often used in the phrase 'don't give me that shit'.

Antonyms

04trouble

C1 · Advanced Uncountable noun Vulgar · Slang · Informal

n. a difficult or dangerous situation.

n. serious trouble or a predicament.

“If the boss finds out we lost the file, we are in deep shit.”

“The company found itself in deep shit after the audit revealed years of unpaid taxes.”

Usage

Commonly used in the phrase 'in deep shit'.

05the best

C2 · Proficiency Uncountable noun Vulgar · Slang · American English

n. something that is excellent or the very best of its kind.

n. the highest quality or most impressive example of something.

“You have to hear their new album; it is the shit.”

“In the nineties, owning this specific model of car meant you were really the shit in this neighborhood.”

Usage

Always used with the definite article 'the'.

Synonyms

the besttop-tier

Antonyms

06to excrete

C1 · Advanced Vulgar · Informal

v. to pass waste from the body.

v. to defecate. Both transitive and intransitive uses are common.

“The cat shit on the rug again this morning.”

“He was so scared during the ordeal that he nearly shit his pants.”

Usage

The past tense can be 'shit', 'shat', or 'shitted'.

Synonyms

defecatepoop

07to tease or lie

C1 · Advanced Vulgar · Slang · Informal

v. to try to trick or tease someone.

v. to attempt to deceive or tease someone, often used in the progressive 'shitting'.

“Are you shitting me? There's no way you won the lottery.”

“I thought he was shitting me when he said he was moving to Japan next week.”

Usage

Usually used in the present continuous.

Synonyms

08bad quality

C1 · Advanced Vulgar · Slang · Informal

adj. very bad, broken, or of poor quality.

adj. of extremely poor quality; contemptible or unpleasant.

“This is a shit movie; let's watch something else.”

“The weather was absolutely shit for the entire duration of our camping trip.”

Usage

Can be used before a noun or after a linking verb.

Antonyms

Real-World Examples

“If they make shit music, it’ll still be shit music.”
The Guardian 28 Aug 2026
“She came to his studio in LA, and the pair, he says, “instantly became friends, and realised how much shit we had in common, in the way we create, the way we think”.”
The Guardian 28 Aug 2026
“Here’s your team, as Gennaro Gattuso would say, sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit.”
The Guardian 27 Aug 2026

Etymology

From Middle English schit, schyt, from Old English sċite (“dung”) and sċitte (“diarrhoea”), from Proto-West Germanic skiti and skittjā, from Proto-Germanic skitiz, from Proto-Indo-European *skeyd- (“to split, divide, separate”). Related to Saterland Frisian Skiete, West Frisian skyte, skyt, Dutch schijt, German Low German Schiet, German Scheiße, Danish skidt, Swedish and Norwegian Nynorsk skit, Norwegian Bokmål skitt, Icelandic skítur. Compare shite. Doublet of scheisse.

From Middle English schiten, shiten, from Old English sċītan, from Proto-West Germanic skītan, from Proto-Germanic skītaną, from Proto-Indo-European skéydt, from skeyd-, skeh₁i-d (“to cut”) (compare skey-). Cognate with West Frisian skite, Low German schieten, Dutch schijten, German scheißen, Danish skide. More at shed.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Word family

NOUN

shit(C1)

ADJECTIVE

Idioms

This entry

Exam level
CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.C1 AdvancedIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.7.0–8.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 5.0–5.595–113TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.945–990
Frequency
Very common
Level
C1 · Advanced
Updated

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