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."
"You fixed that busted bike with zip ties and pure chaos energy? Rad. It looks like it wants to win a race and start a band."
"That rooftop movie night was rad, not even gonna lie. Blankets, cheap pizza, city lights, whole thing had immaculate vibes."
"That mural on the corner is rad as hell, all neon sharks and roller skates. Makes the whole block feel wide awake."
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Where it comes from
Short for radical, which blew up in US surf and skate culture in the late 1970s and 1980s. It first got used for waves, tricks, and anything wildly impressive. From there it rolled into everyday American slang and stuck around as a sunny, slightly retro way to say something's really cool.
Other ways to say it
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