ENGLISH
REFERENCE

slay

v.
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈsɫeɪ// UK //slˈeɪ// slay Informal Literary Slang

v. to do something exceptionally well or look very impressive. You use this when someone succeeds at something or has a great outfit.

v. to perform exceptionally well or to look impressively stylish. In modern usage, it is often used intransitively to express admiration for someone's success or appearance.


SIMPLE

You absolutely slay in that dress!

CONTEXTUAL

She worked hard on her presentation and completely managed to slay the audience with her confidence.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

From Middle English slayn, from Old English slēan (“to hit, punch, strike; to kill”), from Proto-West Germanic slahan, from Proto-Germanic slahaną (“to hit, strike; to kill”), from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to hit, strike, throw”). Cognates Cognate with Alemannic German schlaa (“to beat, hit”), Central Franconian schlage, schlon, schloon (“to beat, hit, strike”), Dutch and Low German slaan (“to beat, hit, strike”), German schlagen, schlahen, schlahn (“to beat, hit, strike”), Luxembourgish schloen (“to beat, defeat, hit”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish slå (“to beat, hit, strike”), Faroese sláa (“to beat, strike”), Icelandic slá (“to hit, strike”), Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (slahan, “to hit, smite, strike”). Related to slaughter, onslaught.

Etymology 2

See sley

Usage

In its slang sense, it is frequently used as an exclamation or an intransitive verb to denote excellence.

Pitfall

She slayed the dragon (modern slang context)She slew the dragon / She slayed that performanceThe irregular past tense 'slew' is used for the literal meaning of killing, while the regular 'slayed' is standard for the modern slang meaning of succeeding.

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