adjective Music Slang

Phat

/fæt/ · adjective · slang

Excellent, cool, and top-quality — a hip-hop term of high praise.

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Definitions

1

Excellent, attractive, or first-rate. Hip-hop praise meaning something is great.

“That beat is phat, who produced it?”
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2

Sometimes backronymed as 'pretty hot and tempting,' though that's a later folk explanation.

“She rolled up in a phat ride and turned every head.”
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3

Stylish, impressive, or high-quality, especially gear, cars, or music.

“Those are some phat new kicks.”
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Phat In A Sentence

Yo, that track is phat, turn it up.
He's got a phat setup in his studio.
That graffiti piece is straight phat.

Origin & Usage

Rooted in African American Vernacular English and hip-hop culture, 'phat' spread in the 80s as praise meaning excellent, deliberately respelled from 'fat' (rich, abundant). Various backronyms came later and are folk etymology.

Variants fatphatt
Tags #80s#american#aave#hip-hop#music

People Also Ask

What does phat mean in slang?

It means excellent, cool, or high-quality. It's hip-hop praise spelled with a 'ph' to stand apart from 'fat.'

Where does the word phat come from?

It comes from African American Vernacular English and hip-hop culture, a respelling of 'fat' meaning rich or abundant.

Does phat stand for something?

Backronyms like 'pretty hot and tempting' exist, but they came after the fact — the word predates them as AAVE slang.

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