Street voices
Michael
·
United States
"Rad means cool or far out. It is used to express joy and excitement in something or someone's appearance or manner. For example, that's a sweet shirt you have on. I love the colors. Thank you so much. I also love your shorts. They are rad."
What it means
Rad means something is really cool, exciting or impressive, with a slightly retro surfer skater flavour still around it. Short for radical, it blew up in American slang and still pops up when something looks great or feels properly fun. It can describe clothes, people, ideas or moments, and it carries more grin than plain old cool.
Usage examples
"That vintage windbreaker is rad, man, super bright and loud. You walked into the cookout looking like summer had hired you as its spokesman."
"She showed up to the picnic on a hand-painted longboard with streamers on the wheels, and the whole group agreed it was completely rad."
Where it comes from
Short for radical, surfer and skater talk of the 1980s for a wave or trick pushed to the very limit. The thrill outlived the boards, so rad now stamps anything cool with a grin.
Editors of this term
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