Lit is a slang adjective used to describe something exciting, cool, or hyped, and also someone who is intoxicated on alcohol or drugs[1].

Where did Lit come from?

The intoxication meaning dates back to at least 1918's War Birds: Diary of an Unknown Aviator, and the earliest Urban Dictionary entry was posted by ralph fff on October 21, 2002[4][1].

It means either drunk or high, or more broadly awesome, exciting, and hyped, as in a lit party or a lit song[2].

You use Lit as an adjective, saying a party was lit, a track is lit AF, or telling friends to get lit before a night out[3].

Is Lit still popular?

Lit peaked as teen slang in 2016 and 2017 through hip-hop hits and YouTube songs like Jake Paul's Litmas, and it settled into general internet English as a classic slang word after that[5].

Lit

2002catchphraseclassic

Published September 5, 2026

Lit is a slang adjective describing an intoxicated state or an exciting party, event, or person. Though the word blew up on Twitter and in rap songs around 2015 and 2016, its intoxication meaning traces back to jazz musicians in the mid-20th century and even earlier to a 1918 aviator's diary2. It became one of the defining pieces of youth slang of the mid-2010s, powering hit songs, YouTube views in the hundreds of millions, and countless dictionary explainers aimed at confused parents3.

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Overview

Lit works in two overlapping ways. The older sense means intoxicated, whether on alcohol or something else, while the newer sense is a general stamp of approval meaning cool, exciting, or hyped1. A party can be lit, a song can be lit, and so can a person who is turnt up on tequila shots2. USA Today grouped it alongside fam, turnt, and woke as one of the essential 2017 teen slang terms parents needed decoded3.

The word tends to travel with rap and party culture. It shows up in hooks, ad-libs, and captions, and it stretches easily into variations like It's Lit, Lit AF, and Get Lit1. Bustle noted that Urban Dictionary's top definition frames a lit person as so intoxicated they look 'lit up like a light,' which links the modern club usage back to its older jazz-era meaning2.

Origin & Background

Platform

Urban Dictionary (early online use) / Twitter and hip-hop (viral spread)

Date

2002

The earliest online definition of Lit was posted to Urban Dictionary on October 21, 2002 by user ralph fff, who defined it simply as extremely intoxicated1. Merriam-Webster later traced the intoxication meaning much further back, to the 1910s, pointing to the 1918 book War Birds: Diary of an Unknown Aviator, which contains the line about walking into a house and getting lit with friends4.

Urban Dictionary user TheGreenAbyss added context in 2015, explaining that mid-20th-century jazz and blues musicians used lit to describe the sweet spot of being drunk enough to be loose but not so drunk they lost their playing chops1. That older, narrower meaning gradually widened into the modern all-purpose hype word.

How It Spread

Lit crossed from niche slang into mainstream teen vocabulary through hip-hop and social media in the mid-2010s. A$AP Rocky's track Get Lit and the ILoveMakonnen and Drake collaboration Tuesday, with its line about getting lit, both helped push the word into heavy rotation2. YFN Lucci's Everyday We Lit racked up over 125 million YouTube views, and the Dobre Brothers song You Know You Lit featuring 6ix9ine pulled in more than 18 million views5.

By 2016, Merriam-Webster was publishing explainer pieces on It's Lit, and outlets from Bustle to USA Today were running guides on how to use the word without embarrassing yourself3 4. The slang crossover peaked in late 2017 when YouTuber Jake Paul dropped his Christmas single Litmas, which drew over 12 million views and heavy mockery, while singer sydnee mcgee's July 2017 track Lit Right Now pulled 1.2 million views and became infamous for how cringeworthy it sounded5.

By the end of the decade, the word had settled into general internet English as a compact way to say something is fire, exciting, or just really good2.

How to Use This Meme

Lit is typically used as an adjective for anything exciting, high-energy, or intoxicated. Common conventions include tagging a party or event as lit, calling a hyped song lit or lit AF, or shouting get lit as a call to start drinking or celebrating1. It often includes hip-hop or nightlife context but works casually in captions and texts about anything a person is hyped for2.

Frequently Asked Questions

References (5)

Lit