Slay
intj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 Something excellent, amazing, or fashionable.
"Equally effervescent was EmRata [Emily Ratajkowski] in 2001 Versace; meanwhile Zendaya, clothed in a 1996 John Galliano for Givenchy gown that could rival Queen Victoria’s regal mourning robes, was a slay for the ages."
- 2 Alternative form of sley alt-of, alternative
- 1 To kill; to murder. literary, transitive
"The knight slew the dragon."
- 2 kill intentionally and with premeditation wordnet
- 3 To eradicate or stamp out. literary, transitive
"You must slay these thoughts."
- 4 to succeed greatly wordnet
- 5 To defeat; to overcome (in a competition or contest). broadly, excessive, informal, transitive
"The Yankees were actually slayed by two former Yankees because Rich Gossage pitched one scoreless inning in relief of Eckersley to notch his first victory."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 be excellent or outstanding wordnet
- 7 To delight or overwhelm, especially with laughter. slang, transitive
"Ha ha! You slay me!"
- 8 To amaze, stun, or otherwise incapacitate by excellence; to excel at something. ambitransitive
"Your outfit slays!"
- 9 To have sex with. slang
- 1 Used to express approval or amazement.
"Despite its dismal performance at the box office, Jennifer’s Body has become a cult favourite – particularly amongst queer women. The horror-comedy stars Megan Fox as a cheerleader who becomes possessed by a succubus – a demon who seduces men, kills them and devours their flesh etc. Slay!"
- 1 To do something exceptionally well. slang, internet, 2010s-2020s
"She slayed that presentation."
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"Then on the third day, when they saw the mountain where they had to go to slay Isaac, then Abraham said to those two servants thus:"
Etymology
From Middle English sleen, slayn, from Old English slēan (“to strike, beat, smite, stamp, forge, sting, slay, kill, impact”), from Proto-West Germanic *slahan, from Proto-Germanic *slahaną (“to fight, strike, kill”), from Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to hit, strike, throw”). Cognate with Dutch slaan (“to beat, hit, strike”), Low German slaan (“hit, strike”), German schlagen (“to beat, hit, strike”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish slå (“to knock, beat, strike”), Icelandic slá (“to strike”). Related to slaughter, onslaught.
See sley
Related phrases
More for "slay"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.