Slay means to do something exceptionally well or to look amazing — an all-purpose compliment for style, performance or confidence. ‘You slayed’ means ‘you nailed it.’

Where did slay come from?

It comes from Black, Latino and queer ballroom culture of the 1970s–80s, where it praised flawless style, and reached the mainstream via Paris Is Burning (1991), RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009) and Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’ (2016).

Is slay a positive word?

Yes — it’s almost always positive, used to praise someone’s appearance, performance or confidence.

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Slay

Slay means to do something exceptionally well — to impress with style, confidence, skill or excellence. “You slayed that” is high praise. It has deep roots in Black, Latino and queer ballroom culture.

Where slay came from

“Slay” literally means “to kill,” and has been used as slang praise on and off for over a century (in the 1920s, “you slay me” meant “you make me laugh”). Its current sense crystallised in the 1970s–80s Black, Latino and queer ballroom scene, where “slay” praised flawless style, attitude and performance — “killing it.”

It reached the mainstream through the 1991 documentary Paris Is Burning, then RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009), and hit full saturation when Beyoncé’s “Formation” (2016) told everyone to “slay.” Because of these roots, some see careless use as appropriation — worth knowing the history.

What it means and how it's used

Today it’s an all-purpose compliment: “you slayed that outfit,” “she slayed the presentation,” “slay queen.” It praises looks, performance and confidence alike, and is used both sincerely and ironically (“slaying the day” for doing something ordinary).

Sources

Wikipedia, “Slay (slang)” · Dictionary.com (“slay”) · Planoly glossary · The Daily Californian. Replace with live links at launch.