80s Slang for Cool — 25+ Gnarly Choices

Dude! You sooooo need to freshen up your vocab … like, with some totally 80s slang for cool.

How do I know?

Because I’m you.

See …

I, too, know the pain of needing to let someone know that you dig them, that they rock … but you’ve used up all the words for “delightful” your geriatric brain can dig up.

You need a thesaurus, a synonym sink, a tight lexicon.

“Tight?”

Yeah, tight … as in right outta this list of 25+ bitchin’ alternatives — 80s slang for cool!

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ace – the top; the best
bad – so bad it’s good; you don’t f with bad folks
big time – alternative form of “totally”; good with great emphasis
bitchin’ – amazing; not whining or griping at all
bodacious – righteous, as in — right on, look at that bod
choice – like sirloin
clutch – unflappable; solid purse
deadly – if good looks could kill …
down – usually followed by “with it”; extreme form: “get down on it”
flash – not the 70s version, although tight bods are allowed to adopt the 70s version
gnarly – ridiculously cool; not your grandmother’s hands
happenin’ – goin’ on; the place to be; the person to be
ill – as in, so good, it makes you feel ill
phat – fat with goodness
rad – short form of rad
radical – long form of radical; now that you’re old, antioxidants can fight this
righteous – Billy Graham, the wrestler and the evangelist
schweet – so sweet you got to thicken up your tongue
sick – see “ill” above; also, sending a cool dog to bite your leg
sweet – two letters less cool than schweet
tight – like a drum … like a rockin’ bod … not like your skinflint dad
totally – entirely; modifier of choice
totally bitchin’ – entirely bitchin’
totally tubular – entirely tubular
tubular – so cool it just spins round and round, amping up in coolness forever
wicked – in the cool of the evil, when ev’rything is gettin’ kind of groovy,

*you can totally enhance any word on this list by adding “totally” in front of it

(Like 80s Slang for Cool — 25? Then you might like our article on 80s Slang Words Translated, click here.)

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